March 25, 1969 Pat Curran Column Hart and AST plus a Hockey Scandal

[Canadiens1958]

A very interesting day. Pat Curran wrote an interesting column about the Hart Trophy and AST voting for the 1968-69 NHL season, touching on the Phil Esposito / Bobby Orr value question:


http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MnoyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GLkFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=1072,5681320

Also a blurb about a hockey gambling scandal that had touched the NHL timekeeping at The Montreal Forum.

Click to read more...

 

[Killion]

Thats interesting that Ted Harris of the Habs from Currans perspective would be runner-up to Orr as top Defenceman. Not seeing that. Am I missing something? Role player. Spent 8yrs in Springfield under Shore who forged him into the player he was. It was Harris who got into (and lost) a fight with Orr in his Rookie Season, Ted having earlier annihilated Orland Kurtenbach of the Rangers in a heavyweight punch-up. Won 4 Cups with the Habs, 5th with the Flyers. Nicknamed The Quiet Man... fantastic era this, 63-74, the span of Harris's NHL career.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Ted Harris

Thats interesting that Ted Harris of the Habs from Currans perspective would be runner-up to Orr as top Defenceman. Not seeing that. Am I missing something? Role player. Spent 8yrs in Springfield under Shore who forged him into the player he was. It was Harris who got into (and lost) a fight with Orr in his Rookie Season, Ted having earlier annihilated Orland Kurtenbach of the Rangers in a heavyweight punch-up. Won 4 Cups with the Habs, 5th with the Flyers. Nicknamed The Quiet Man... fantastic era this, 63-74, the span of Harris's NHL career.

Ted Harris, Al Arbour, to a degree Ted Green, the workhorse types, received recognition those seasons as there was a transition period between the old guard and the Orr influenced defencemen that dominated in the seventies and eighties.

Another factor was that the NHL, especially the east, had moved to a situation where the C/RW/RD drove the offence - Boston with Espo/Hodge/Orr. This put a lot of pressure on the LD, which Harris was and he responded very well.

Harris was paired with J.C. Tremblay, a pairing that worked very well.

Harris was a 2nd team All Star that season at the age of 33. 1st was a bit of a stretch. 2nd with Green, behind Orr and Horton was fair.

 

[Killion]

Harris was paired with J.C. Tremblay, a pairing that worked very well.

Yes, an effective tandem, remember the two of them, certainly JC very well.... was sorry to see Tremblay jump to the WHA a couple of seasons later. Both of those guys realized there greatest successes individually later in their careers, though Tremblay was early on clearly an excellent talent, converted from LW to defence, MVP in the old EPHL with Ottawa-Hull before moving up to the Habs. Great player.... when the Nordiques joined the NHL and after he'd retired having never played for the Diques in the NHL, they retired his number, as was the case with John McKenzie in Hartford; and a little different, Frank Finnigan with the Ottawa Senators after a huge gap in years between the original Sens & the Expansion Franchise re-entry...