Although born in New York City where his father, Hall of Famer Babe Pratt, had played with the Rangers, Tracy Pratt only stuck around in the Big Apple for two weeks. He actually grew up in Vancouver where, in spite of only four arenas in town, he managed to learn to play hockey well enough to make the Flin Flon Bombers of the SJHL in 1960.
Being the era of the Original Six, however, Pratt had a long journey through the minors ahead of him before he'd see any NHL ice. As he toiled his way through stints with Brandon, St. Paul, and Portland, it became apparent that while his father made it on finesse, the younger Pratt was all brawn. His primary focus was on moving bodies from in front of his net. He once remarked that crossing the red line was like entering alien territory.
Pratt finally made it the NHL when the Oakland Seals selected him in the Expansion Draft of 1967. He lasted for only 34 games before dropping down to the minors again until the Pittsburgh Penguins gave him his first full-time NHL stint in 1969-70. His stay with the Pens was short, however, as the Buffalo Sabres claimed him during the Expansion Draft of 1970.
In Buffalo, Pratt continued to play his stay-at-home game while annoying coach Punch Imalch by winning all of the gin rummy money during road trips. In 1973, he hit the road again, this time to Vancouver where he tended to the Canucks' blueline until he was sentenced to join the struggling Colorado Rockies in 1976-77. But as was so often the case for Pratt, he was judged to be expendable and, as such, was passed on to Toronto where he retired in 1977 after playing only 15 games.
