John Tripp was born May 4, 1977 in Kingston, Ontario. The third round choice, 77th overall selection of the Colorado Avalanche in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Tripp is a graduate of the OHL's Oshawa Generals.
The hulking forward spent three seasons in Oshawa, appearing in 173 career games with the Generals, registering 47 goals and 45 assists for 92 points, along with 274 penalty minutes and was instrumental in the team's run to the 1997 OHL Championship and to the Memorial Cup semi-final.
Unable to reach a contract agreement with Colorado, Tripp re-entered the draft in 1997 and was the Calgary Flames second round choice, 42nd overall. In 1997-98, the Kingston native spent the better part the season with the Flames AHL affiliate in Saint-John while playing in a handful of games with the ECHL's Roanoke Express.
Over the next four seasons, Tripp would have stops in the AHL with Saint-John (1999-2000), Hershey (2000-01) and Hartford (2001-02), the IHL with Houston (2000-01) and Milwaukee (2000-01) and the ECHL with Johnstown (1998-2000) and Pensacola (2000-2002) before signing as a free agent with the Hartford Wolf Pack prior to the 2002-03 season.
In his first full season in Hartford, Tripp scored a career high 29 goals and finished the season with 50 points while seeing action in nine games with the parent club, the New York Rangers. After getting a taste of the NHL with the Rangers in 2002-03, Tripp signed as a free-agent with Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 2004. In his first season with the Kings, the former Oshawa General split his time between the Kings and the club's AHL affiliate in Manchester.
