Ritchie was drafted in the 7th round (165th overall) by the Hartford Whalers in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He was named to the Western Hockey League East Second All-Star Team in 1996 and 1997. On May 13, 1997, after a major junior game in the Memorial Cup refereed by a Francophone from Quebec he was caught by an RDS (the French version of TSN) camera yelling: "Fuck you, you fucking Frogs! Fuck them all!"" He apologized the next day at practice stating "Whether the camera was on me or not doesn't make it right." For the remainder of the tournament, he was booed mercilessly by the fans in Hull, Quebec, where the tournament was taking place.