When Fido Purpur stepped on the ice with the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, he became, up to that point in time (1974), North Dakota's only native son to play in the National Hockey League. With hockey developing at a fast pace, no doubt more of the Sioux state's sons were seen in major league rinks.

Purpur made the NHL when he was twenty and when the Eagles folded after the 1934-35 season, he signed with the American Hockey Association – St. Louis Flyers. He stayed with the Flyers until 1942 when he returned to the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks. In St. Louis, Purpur was idolized by the fans because of his gutsy play, great speed, and small stature, but also because he always took time out to talk to the fans and sign autographs for the youngsters. His best year of many good years in St. Louis was 1938-39 when he scored 35 goals and 43 assists in the regular season and three goals and three assists in the playoffs as St. Louis won the Harry F. Sinclair Trophy emblematic of the league championship.

The Blackhawks obtained Purpur with the idea of teaming him on a line with Max and Doug Bentley. He was also the player they used to shadow the great Montreal player, the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard. "I followed him everywhere," recalls Purpur. Playing all fifty games for the 1942-43 Blackhawks, he scored 13 goals and 16 assists. The following year, the Hawks made the Stanley Cup finals losing to Montreal 4 games to 0, but in the semi-finals Purpur had a strong series against Detroit scoring a goal in the fourth game of the five game series. He played with both Chicago and Detroit in 1944-45, appearing with the latter in the finals against Toronto.

Completing his professional career with St. Paul of the United States Hockey League in 1947, Purpur returned to North Dakota where he was coach at the University of North Dakota from 1949 to 1956. He was the father of six hockey playing sons.