| Terry Harper | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born | (1940-01-27)January 27, 1940 (age 85) 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 aCanadian former professionalice hockey player. Harper played in theNational Hockey League from1962 to1981. During this time, he played for theMontreal Canadiens,Los Angeles Kings,Detroit Red Wings,St. Louis Blues, andColorado Rockies.
Harper grew up inRegina, 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 theMontreal Canadiens.[1] In the1958 Memorial Cup finals, they lost to theOttawa-Hull Junior Canadiens, who were led by managerSam Pollock, coachScotty Bowman and future starsJ.C Tremblay,Gilles Tremblay,Ralph Backstrom, andBobby Rousseau.[3]
Harper played his first 10 seasons with theMontreal 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 fiveStanley Cups between 1963 and 1972.[1]
On October 30, 1963, Harper got into an altercation with Bob Pulford of theToronto 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 theLos 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 withDan Maloney, was traded to theDetroit Red Wings as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Hall of FamerMarcel Dionne andBart 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 theDetroit Red Wings. After 4 solid seasons for a struggling Red Wings team, he played his final two seasons for theSt. Louis Blues andColorado 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).
Harper became the assistant coach of the Colorado Rockies in 1980–81.
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 theDetroit Red Wings.
Harper was married for 60 years before his wife passed away. He lives alone inFolsom, California with his kids and grandkids close by.His daughter also lives in Folsom, and his two sons live inWest Sacramento andStockton. Despite his old age, Harper plays hockey twice a week.[1]
| 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 | ||||
| Preceded by | Los Angeles Kings captain 1973–75 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Detroit Red Wings captain 1975–76 | Succeeded by |