Doug Harvey (ice hockey)

For the article on the baseball umpire, see: Doug Harvey (umpire)
Doug Harvey
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1973
Born (1924-12-19)December 19, 1924
Montreal, QC, CAN
Died December 26, 1989(1989-12-26) (aged 65)
Montreal, QC, CAN
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Montreal Canadiens
New York Rangers
St. Louis Blues
Detroit Red Wings
Baltimore Clippers
Buffalo Bisons
Pittsburgh Hornets
Quebec Aces
Playing career 1945–1969

Douglas Norman Harvey (December 19, 1924 – December 26, 1989) was a Canadian professional hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1947 until 1964, and from 1966 until 1969. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defencemen ever to play the game, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's top defenceman on seven occasions.[1][2]

Playing career

Doug Harvey with the New York Rangers

Minor leagues

Harvey played minor league hockey in Oxford Park, Notre Dame de Grace in his native Montreal, Quebec, Canada, then began his professional career with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior Hockey League where he played from 1945 to 1947, helping them win the Allan Cup. He then played one season with the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League. He made the jump to the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL in the 1947–48 NHL season and remained with the team until 1961.

Professional

Under coach Dick Irvin, Harvey was named to the All-Star team 11 consecutive times, beginning in the 1951–52 NHL season. He won his first of seven James Norris Memorial Trophies in 1955, as the league's best defenceman. In an era when the defenceman's role did not include scoring points, Harvey used his skating speed and passing ability to become a factor in making the Canadiens a high-scoring team.

He earned six Stanley Cups, all with Montreal. In 1954, however, he scored a Cup-losing own-goal when he tipped the puck with his glove, after a deflected shot by Tony Leswick of the Detroit Red Wings and past goalie Gerry McNeil. McNeil was so crushed by the goal, he retired to coach junior hockey the next season, but returned to the Habs in 1956.

Harvey became an outspoken critic of the hockey establishment who "owned" players for life. In Harvey’s day, players were paid a pittance compared to the millions being earned by the team owners. A superstar such as Harvey, who today would be paid millions, was earning less than $30,000 a season ($274,634 in 2008 dollars)[3] at the peak of his career while playing every game in front of sell-out crowds. Harvey was one of the first to help organize the players association which so infuriated the Canadiens’ owners that in 1961 they traded him to the then lowly New York Rangers. One of the individuals secretly blacklisted by the league owners, Harvey responded by winning still another Norris Trophy as a Ranger. He remained with New York until 1963, and then played for several minor league teams before finishing his NHL career in 1969 with the St. Louis Blues. Harvey served as player-coach during his first season in New York but was never entirely comfortable with this dual role.[4] In addition, he was also listed as Coach for the Kansas City Blues, which was the farm team affiliate for the St Louis Blues in 1967-68.[5]

In 1964 Harvey, Gump Worsley, and Red Berenson played for the Montreal Jr. Canadiens in a game against the Soviet national team. Harvey played almost 50 minutes during the 3–2 loss.[6]

Post-playing career

Well into his forties, with limited education and no other skills besides hockey, Harvey eked out a living playing in the minor-pro leagues and with an assistant coaching tenure in the World Hockey Association. Although he was unanimously voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973, because of his involvement with the players' association, his sweater number wasn't retired by the Montreal Canadiens until 1985.

For years, Harvey battled alcoholism while suffering from bipolar disorder. In 1985 he was offered a job with the Montreal Canadiens as a scout. For 3 years, Harvey lived in the private railway car of Olive and John Diefenbaker, which was purchased years earlier by Joe Gorman, T. P. Gorman's son, and placed at the Connaught Park Racetrack entrance. Harvey's last Stanley Cup victory came in 1986, when the Montreal Canadiens were once again the winners. He died three years later due to cirrhosis of the liver, only a week after his 65th birthday, and was interred in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.

In 1998, he was ranked number 6 on The Hockey News' list of the Top 100 NHL Players of All Time. At the time, he was the highest-ranking deceased player.

The government of Canada honoured Doug Harvey in 2000 with his image placed on a Canadian postage stamp.

In 2002, a book on his life was published. Titled Doug: The Doug Harvey Story, it was written by William Brown, with a foreword by his former teammate Jean Béliveau. His #2 jersey was retired by the Montreal Canadiens on October 26, 1985.

The former Confederation Arena renamed itself to Doug Harvey Arena in 1966.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1942–43 Montreal Navy MCHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1942–43 Montreal Jr. Royals QJHL 21 4 6 10 17 6 3 4 7 10
1942–43 Montreal Royals QSHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1943–44 Montreal Jr. Royals QJHL 13 4 6 10 34 4 2 6 8 10
1943–44 Montreal Royals QSHL 1 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
1943–44 Montreal Navy MCHL 15 4 1 5 24 5 3 1 4 15
1943–44 Montreal Jr. Royals M-Cup — — — — — 3 0 1 1 6
1944–45 Montreal Navy MCHL 3 0 2 2 2 6 3 1 4 6
1944–45 Montreal Jr. Royals QJHL — — — — — 9 2 2 4 10
1945–46 Montreal Royals QSHL 34 2 6 8 90 11 1 6 7 37
1946–47 Montreal Royals QSHL 40 2 26 28 171 11 2 4 6 62
1946–47 Montreal Royals Al-Cup — — — — — 14 4 9 13 26
1947–48 Montreal Canadiens NHL 35 4 4 8 32 — — — — —
1947–48 Buffalo Bisons AHL 24 1 7 8 38 — — — — —
1948–49 Montreal Canadiens NHL 55 3 13 16 87 7 0 1 1 10
1949–50 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 4 20 24 76 5 0 2 2 10
1950–51 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 5 24 29 93 11 0 5 5 12
1951–52 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 6 23 29 82 11 0 3 3 8
1952–53 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 4 30 34 67 12 0 5 5 8
1953–54 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 8 29 37 110 10 0 2 2 12
1954–55 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 6 43 49 58 12 0 8 8 6
1955–56 Montreal Canadiens NHL 62 5 39 44 60 12 2 5 7 10
1956–57 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 6 44 50 92 10 0 7 7 10
1957–58 Montreal Canadiens NHL 68 9 32 41 131 10 2 9 11 16
1958–59 Montreal Canadiens NHL 61 4 16 20 61 11 1 11 12 22
1959–60 Montreal Canadiens NHL 66 6 21 27 45 8 3 0 3 6
1960–61 Montreal Canadiens NHL 58 6 33 39 48 6 0 1 1 8
1961–62 New York Rangers NHL 69 6 24 30 42 6 0 1 1 2
1962–63 New York Rangers NHL 68 4 35 39 92 — — — — —
1963–64 St. Paul Rangers CPHL 5 2 2 4 6 — — — — —
1963–64 New York Rangers NHL 14 0 2 2 10 — — — — —
1963–64 Quebec Aces AHL 52 6 36 42 30 9 0 4 4 10
1964–65 Quebec Aces AHL 64 1 36 37 72 4 1 1 2 9
1965–66 Baltimore Clippers AHL 67 7 32 39 80 — — — — —
1966–67 Baltimore Clippers AHL 24 2 9 11 10 — — — — —
1966–67 Pittsburgh Hornets AHL 28 0 9 9 22 9 0 0 0 2
1966–67 Detroit Red Wings NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1967–68 Kansas City Blues CPHL 59 4 16 20 12 7 0 6 6 6
1967–68 St. Louis Blues NHL — — — — — 8 0 4 4 12
1968–69 St. Louis Blues NHL 70 2 20 22 30 — — — — —
NHL totals 1113 88 452 540 1216 137 8 64 72 152

NHL coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
New York Rangers1961–62 70263212644th in NHLLost in Semi-Finals

Awards

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