The native of Slave Lake, Alberta, was a force on the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders for four seasons. He was the second round pick, 32nd overall, by the Detroit Red Wings at the 1987 entry draft. Two years later Kruppke was named to the WHL second all-star team.

Between 1990 and 1994 he played 23 NHL games in Detroit but was chiefly a member of the farm team, the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings. In 1992 he helped the squad win the first Calder Cup in franchise history. Kruppke's rights were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1995 but he never made it past the team's AHL farm team in St. John's. After three years with the Houston Aeros of the IHL, he retired in 1998.

Courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame