The Montreal Canadiens won four Stanley Cups in five seasons from 1965-69. Every hockey fan knows the big names on those teams: Jean Beliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, Henri Richard, Serge Savard, and others.
However, it is often the depth players on a roster who help win championships.
Terry Harper, one of the team’s best stay-at-home defensemen, was such a player.
Harper, who played in four NHL All-Star games and won five Stanley Cups, was born and raised in Regina, Sask. He played three seasons in the now-defunct Eastern Professional League before being brought up to the NHL by the Canadiens.
“It was fantastic, like a dream come true,” Harper said of playing for the legendary franchise. “The Canadiens had that mystique to them, that history of always being a top organization and a very competitive one. They didn’t win every year, but they were in the battle all the time.”
His first NHL game, though, was more a funny than a triumphant story.
“On my first shift in the league,” Harper recalled, “I fell down and Gordie Howe scooted right around me. I was so damn nervo ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Alan Bass
NHL Backchecking: Little-Known Canadien Terry Harper Big Part of Team’s Cup Runs
September 9th, 2010 by Alan Bass Leave a reply »
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