Doug Harvey (ice hockey)

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.

In the early 1940s Harvey also played rugby football (later known as Canadian football). He started to play competitively while at West Hill, and though he could play both offense and defence equally well, he was most known as a defensive halfback.[14] He continued on with the sport when he joined the navy, playing for their Montreal-based team, St. Hyacinthe–Donnacona Navy. In 1943 Harvey was named the most valuable player of the Quebec Rugby Football Union. The Donnacona Navy won the 1944 Grey Cup as Canadian champions, though Harvey had been sent into active service and did not play in the game.[10] After the war he briefly played for the newly-formed Montreal Hornets, but a mid-season injury forced him out.[15] Though skilled at football, Harvey gave up the sport as it was only semi-professional in Canada at that time, while hockey was fully professional.[14]

Harvey also played baseball at a competitive level, spending summers on teams from 1947 to 1950, mainly playing as a third baseman.[16] In 1947 he was invited to join the Ottawa Nationals, a team that was run by Tommy Gorman (who had recently left his position as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team) and competed in the Class C Border League.[17] A skilled ball player, in 1949 Harvey led the Border League in runs, runs batted in, and batting average.[16] He was also offered a contract by the major league Boston Braves, though turned down the offer as it would only see him play in Class B (another level in the minor leagues).[18]

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 tried to block a shot by Tony Leswick of the Detroit Red Wings with his glove but instead tipped it past goalie Gerry McNeil. McNeil was so crushed by the goal that he retired to coach junior hockey the next season, but returned to the Canadiens in 1956.

Between 1955 and 1962 Harvey won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman every year except 1959, when it went to his teammate Tom Johnson.[19]

Prior to the 1960–61 season Harvey was voted captain of the Canadiens by his teammates. This was not welcomed by team management, who were not happy with Harvey's actions on and off the ice.[6]

Harvey was an outspoken critic of the hockey establishment who controlled players' careers via the reserve clause, which restricted player rights. In Harvey's day, players were not highly paid, with Harvey earning less than $30,000 a season at the peak of his career.

Doug Harvey with the New York Rangers

After the Canadiens lost in the 1961 playoffs, Harvey was singled out by Canadiens' general manager Frank J. Selke for the team's poor performance, and began to look at ways to get rid of him. Though he was still considered one of the best players in the NHL, Selke and the Canadiens had tired of his antics, and soon were in discussions with the New York Rangers about a possible trade. Muzz Patrick, the coach and general manager of the Rangers, had tired of the dual role, and agreed to take on Harvey if he could be convinced to be a player-coach. While Harvey was reluctant to move to New York he agreed to talk to Patrick, who offered a two-year contract worth $25,000 per year, a fairly high salary. After initially refusing, he agreed after a third year was added to the contract.[20]

He won the Norris Trophy in his first season with the Rangers, but resigned as coach after the year, citing a lack of interest. He played one more season withe the team and part of a second before going to the minor leagues.

After leaving the Rangers Harvey spent two years with the Quebec Aces of the AHL. He followed that with one and a half seasons with the Baltimore Clippers and a further half season with the Pittsburgh Hornets.

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.[21]

In January 1967, Harvey was called up to play for the Detroit Red Wings in a back-to-back series against the Chicago Black Hawks. However he disappointed Red Wings management by showing up roughly 20 pounds (9.1 kg) overweight, and was largely ineffective in the two games, so was sent back to Pittsburgh for the remainder of the season.[22] With the Hornets he won the Calder Cup, the AHL championship, though the team disbanded after the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins were due to start playing in the NHL for 1967–68.[22] He finished 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.[23]

In addition, he was hired as coach and manager of the Kansas City Blues, which was the minor league affiliate for the St Louis Blues in 1967–68.[24]

Harvey married Usula Hardie on May 21, 1949 in Montreal.[29] It is not certain when they met, but they had been together since at least 1946.[30] They had six children: Doug, Jr., Darlene, Glen, Nancy, Diane, and Maria.[31] The family lived in NDG throughout Doug's playing career, though moved to Long Island during his first season with the Rangers before returning to Montreal after a few months, living in a house he built with his brothers in 1950.[32]

Outside of hockey, Harvey had several business ventures. After building his own home, Harvey and his brothers began a house-building business in 1953, and they later established an aluminum window business as well. Harvey, who was well-known for his hockey career at this point, would spend most of his time talking to clients, leaving Alf and Howard to do the physical work.[32] In the early 1960s Harvey opened up a restaurant in Montreal, Chez Doug Harvey, with an associate he had recently met.[33] The restaurant proved a massive financial failure, with his partner absconding with a large amount of money, and ultimately cost Harvey around $65,000, equal to nearly two years' pay for him. It also took a serious toll on his family's finances, which were exacerbated when he played in the minor leagues, making far less than he had in the NHL; on several occasions friends would help cover the mortgage to prevent Harvey from defaulting.[34]

Starting in the mid-1960s Harvey started a summer hockey school for young boys. He would lead a two-week school instructing them on how to play better, and would often buy equipment and board players who were unable to cover the associated costs.[31] The school ran yearly until 1979.[35] In the early 1980s Harvey was offered a job at the Connaught Park Racetrack in Aylmer, Quebec, as well as the opportunity to live in retired railcar that had been used by Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker in the 1950s, and subsequently purchased by the track.[36]

For years, Harvey battled alcoholism while suffering from bipolar disorder. In 1985 he was offered a job with the Montreal Canadiens as a scout. He died on December 26, 1989 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.[37]

• Source: Total Hockey[48]