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Terry Harper

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For the baseball player, see Terry Harper (baseball).
Terry Harper
Born (1940-01-27) January 27, 1940 (age 84)
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Right
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
St. Louis Blues
Colorado Rockies
Playing career 1962–1981

Terrance Victor Harper (born January 27, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Harper played in the National Hockey League from 1962 to 1981. During this time, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Colorado Rockies.

Early life

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Harper grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan playing hockey.[1] When he was young, he suffered serious third-degree burns to his arms, chest, stomach, and legs in a fire. The damage required seven years of skin grafting. Doctors allowed him to play hockey as a way to rebuild his leg muscles.[2]

He played for Regina's local hockey team, which was sponsored by the Montreal Canadiens.[1] In the 1958 Memorial Cup finals, they lost to the Ottawa-Hull Junior Canadiens, who were led by manager Sam Pollock, coach Scotty Bowman and future stars J.C Tremblay, Gilles Tremblay, Ralph Backstrom, and Bobby Rousseau.[3]

Playing career

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Harper played his first 10 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. He joined the team in 1962.[1] However, he didn't debut for the team until 1963.[2] While with Montreal, Harper had his greatest success, winning five Stanley Cups between 1963 and 1972.[1]

On October 30, 1963, Harper got into an altercation with Bob Pulford of the Toronto Maple Leafs while sharing the penalty box. As a result, separate penalty boxes for teams were created 10 days later.[1]

Before the 1972–73 season, Harper was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, where he anchored a defence that became one of the league's stingiest. Harper was immediately named team captain, a position he held for 3 seasons until his trade to Detroit after the 1974–75 season.[1] In 1973, he was an All-Star. In that game, he made a game-tying goal for the West All-Stars. However, Bobby Schmautz then scored the game-winning goal for the East All-Stars.[4] The Kings made the playoffs twice in his tenure there, but each time got bounced in the first round.[5]

After the 1974–75 season, on June 23, 1975, Harper, along with Dan Maloney, was traded to the Detroit Red Wings as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne and Bart Crashley to Los Angeles.[6] Once again, he was named team captain for Detroit.[1] In the 1975–76 season, he erupted for a career-high eight goals with the Detroit Red Wings. After 4 solid seasons for a struggling Red Wings team, he played his final two seasons for the St. Louis Blues and Colorado Rockies, where he played into his 40s.[7] He retired in 1981, at the age of 41.

In 19 seasons in the league, Harper finished with only 254 points.[7] For his career, he finished with 35 goals, 221 assists, 1,362 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus total of +169 (this statistic did not become official until the 1967–68 season, Harper's 6th in the league).

Coaching career

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Harper became the assistant coach of the Colorado Rockies in 1980–81.

Playing style

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Harper was a classic stay-at-home defensive-oriented defenceman. He would often total over 90 penalty minutes per season due to his physical play, but his goaltenders were very appreciative of his ability to clear offensive players out of the area in front of the goal crease. Harper was frequently part of his team's top penalty-killing unit. He was a tough fighter and always got back up, but constantly got pounded by his opponents.[8]

Harper rarely scored, and the "Harper hat trick" was when he scored 3 goals in a season (vs. 3 in one game). He accomplished this 5 times in his 18-year career, erupting for a career-high 8 goals in the 1975–76 season with the Detroit Red Wings.

Personal life

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Harper was married for 60 years before his wife passed away. He lives alone in Folsom, California with his kids close by with his daughter also in Folsom, and two sons in West Sacramento and Stockton. Despite his old age, Harper plays hockey twice a week.[1]

Awards and achievements

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Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1957–58 Regina Pats SJHL 51 6 10 16 74 12 2 3 5 12
1957–58 Regina Pats M-Cup — — — — — 16 3 2 5 8
1958–59 Regina Pats SJHL 48 1 19 20 79 9 1 2 3 6
1959–60 Regina Pats SJHL 59 17 21 38 56 13 3 7 10 6
1960–61 Montreal Royals EPHL 69 3 14 17 85 — — — — —
1961–62 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 65 2 18 20 101 12 0 1 1 15
1962–63 Montreal Canadiens NHL 14 1 1 2 10 5 1 0 1 8
1962–63 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 52 6 31 37 83 — — — — —
1962–63 Quebec Aces AHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1963–64 Montreal Canadiens NHL 70 2 15 17 149 7 0 0 0 6
1964–65 Montreal Canadiens NHL 62 0 7 7 93 13 0 0 0 19
1965–66 Montreal Canadiens NHL 69 1 11 12 91 10 2 3 5 18
1966–67 Montreal Canadiens NHL 56 0 16 16 99 10 0 1 1 15
1967–68 Montreal Canadiens NHL 57 3 8 11 66 13 0 1 1 8
1968–69 Montreal Canadiens NHL 21 0 3 3 37 11 0 0 0 8
1968–69 Cleveland Barons AHL 28 2 4 6 21 — — — — —
1969–70 Montreal Canadiens NHL 75 4 18 22 109 — — — — —
1970–71 Montreal Canadiens NHL 78 1 21 22 116 20 0 6 6 28
1971–72 Montreal Canadiens NHL 52 2 12 14 35 5 1 1 2 6
1972–73 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 1 8 9 74 — — — — —
1973–74 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 0 17 17 119 5 0 0 0 16
1974–75 Los Angeles Kings NHL 80 5 21 26 120 3 0 0 0 2
1975–76 Detroit Red Wings NHL 69 8 25 33 59 — — — — —
1976–77 Detroit Red Wings NHL 52 4 8 12 28 — — — — —
1977–78 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 2 17 19 85 7 0 1 1 4
1978–79 Detroit Red Wings NHL 51 0 6 6 58 — — — — —
1978–79 Kansas City Red Wings CHL 22 0 13 13 36 — — — — —
1979–80 St. Louis Blues NHL 11 1 5 6 6 3 0 0 0 2
1980–81 Colorado Rockies NHL 15 0 2 2 8 — — — — —
NHL totals 1,066 35 221 256 1,362 112 4 13 17 140

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Long, Matt (June 8, 2023). "Hockey's been good to Harper". goldcountrymedia.com. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  2. ^ a b "Inductees « Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame". saskhockeyhalloffame.ca. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  3. ^ Denault, Todd (2007-08-29). "The Genius of Sam Pollock". HabsWorld.net. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  4. ^ "Q & A with hockey trivia expert Liam Maguire". Ottawa Sun. January 24, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Boucher, Mario (2014-11-18). "Captains of the Los Angeles Kings, Part 1: 1960's & 1970's". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  6. ^ Ellis, Rob (2017-06-23). "June 23 NHL History | Hockey History". NHL Trade Rumors. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  7. ^ a b "Every NHL player to play in his 40s". Yardbarker. 2024-02-13. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  8. ^ Weldon, Scott (December 8, 2011). "20 Toughest Fighters in Montreal Canadiens History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
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Preceded by Los Angeles Kings captain
1973–75 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Detroit Red Wings captain
1975–76 		Succeeded by
  • Note: Harper served as Red Wings captain during most of the 1975–76 season. Danny Grant was injured and out of the lineup.
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