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Doug Harvey questions

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The Panther

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
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Tokyo, Japan
Doug Harvey is a player I know a bit about, but not too much. Much of what I know is from Jean Béliveau's book, as well as from brief biographical stuff I've read online.

I have some specific questions about him:

-- One year after he was voted the new captain of the Canadiens, Montreal traded him in 1961. Why exactly did Montreal trade him? I've read that club management didn't like him for one reason or another, or were worried about his influence on the young guys, but I don't understand why. (I'm also aware that Harvey had a serious problem, esp. later in life, with alcohol. Was that a factor ?) Of course, he was getting older by then, but he'd just won the Norris trophy, so... (All seems a bit Chelios-ish, 28 years later.)

-- Why did Harvey, nearly aged 44, agree to sign with the Blues for the 1968-69 season? He'd already had his "comeback" chance with Detroit a couple years earlier and pretty much blown it. Would he have needed money by 1968?

-- This last one I really can't figure out: Why didn't Harvey play at all in the 1969 playoffs? (I assume injury, but I can't find the info anywhere.) He'd appeared in 70 of 76 regular season games, but no playoff games (of which the Blues had 12).

-- Are there any in-game photos of Bobby Orr and Harvey?


Thanks.
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Harvey suffered a fractured skull in an off-ice incident during the last week of the 68-69 regular season. His playing career was over after that.

He played in the AHL for several seasons in the mid-60s when it looked like his NHL days were finished. It could have been a similar situation to Jagr or Hasek where he just loved the game so much that he was willing to keep playing for whatever league or team who was willing to pay him.
 
reckoning said:
Harvey suffered a fractured skull in an off-ice incident during the last week of the 68-69 regular season. His playing career was over after that.
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Frickin' hell, never heard this!!

Do you know what happened? (Checking the game logs, it appears to have happened at the Forum in Los Angeles, March 29th, 1969.)
 
The Panther said:
Frickin' hell, never heard this!!

Do you know what happened? (Checking the game logs, it appears to have happened at the Forum in Los Angeles, March 29th, 1969.)
Click to expand...

Officially — he was riding as the passenger in a car when the door flew open, causing him to fall out and strike his head on the pavement.

So, either a freak accident or something that couldn’t be explained publicly so they made up a weird story.
 
tarheelhockey said:
Officially — he was riding as the passenger in a car when the door flew open, causing him to fall out and strike his head on the pavement.

So, either a freak accident or something that couldn’t be explained publicly so they made up a weird story.
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Oh, gotcha. Sorry, I thought you'd written "on-ice" instead of off-ice.

Hm, weird. You have to wonder if Harvey was on the sauce or something...
 
Theres a biography of him by William Brown (who also wrote a history of the Montreal Maroons). It really gets into his personal life, and is a really good read. Would highly recommend it, and family certain it covers what you're asking here, too.

tarheelhockey said:
Officially — he was riding as the passenger in a car when the door flew open, causing him to fall out and strike his head on the pavement.

So, either a freak accident or something that couldn’t be explained publicly so they made up a weird story.
Click to expand...

Considering his off-ice lifestyle, I'm feel there was more to it than a door randomly opening.
 
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kaiser matias said:
Considering his off-ice lifestyle, I'm feel there was more to it than a door randomly opening.
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I would assume so, given the extreme unlikelihood of a door opening by itself and the person completely falling through it. Undoubtedly he suffered a fall, perhaps even out of an open car door, but there seems to be at least a chapter of the story missing.
 
I saw that happen once in real life and it was a drunk guy who, I'm pretty sure, just thought it was time to get out of the car and didn't know or care that it was moving.
Got bad road rash, a broken finger, wrist and nose. plus a dislocated shoulder.
 
I dug out my copy of William Brown's biography on Harvey, and here's what it says about the head injury, which occurred when he gone out drinking with his friend and Blues teammate Bob Player:

"At one point, Plager decided to call it a night and drove Doug to his hotel. Doug got out of the car, about to head into the hotel, but then apparently changed his mind and tried to open car door again while Plager was backing up. The door knocked him to the ground and he hit his head. Doug was bleeding but didn't seem to be seriously injured. Plager drove to the hospital, against Harvey's wishes, and a minor skull fracture was detected."
 
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I found this while searching for something else and it's an interesting read about what a great athelete Harvey was.


www.milb.com

Basepaths to blue line: Harvey slugged in Minors

There’s plenty of evidence that Doug Harvey made the right choice. One of the best defensemen who ever laced up the skates, Harvey was included among the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players during the league’s 2017 centennial and was an icon on the ice over a 19-year career. Doug Harvey, it
www.milb.com www.milb.com
 
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