Douglas Harvey | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Douglas Harvey

Douglas Harvey, hockey player (born 19 December 1924 in Montreal, QC; died 26 December 1989 in Montreal). Harvey was the greatest defenceman of his era, controlling the tempo of the game with pinpoint passing, subtle playmaking and dramatic rushes.
Harvey, Doug
Harvey was the greatest defenceman of his era, controlling the tempo of the game with pinpoint passing, subtle playmaking and dramatic rushes.

Douglas Harvey, hockey player (born 19 December 1924 in Montreal, QC; died 26 December 1989 in Montreal). He rejected offers from major-league football and baseball teams and played amateur senior hockey for Montreal Royals before joining Montreal Canadiens in 1947-48. Harvey was the greatest defenceman of his era, controlling the tempo of the game with pinpoint passing, subtle playmaking and dramatic rushes. He was the defensive leader of the powerful Canadien team that won five consecutive Stanley Cup victories 1956-60.

He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy for outstanding defenceman 7 times, was first all-star 10 times and scored 88 goals and 452 assists in 1113 regular-season games and 8 goals and 64 assists in 137 playoff games. His career in Montreal ended when he became active in the NHL players association and he was traded in 1961 to New York Rangers where he was player-coach for a year. He played for several teams in the minors before returning to the NHL with Detroit and St Louis. He was briefly coach of LA Kings (1970).

On 3 October 2014, Canada Post issued a collection of stamps honouring six legendary NHL defencemen from the Original Six era (1942–67), including Harvey (the five others are Tim Horton, Pierre Pilote, Bobby Orr, Red Kelly and Harry Howell).

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