Hockey season brings thoughts of “Uncle” Ted

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This article was published 31/08/2018 (2928 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every year around this time I start getting geared up for hockey season and always look back to a childhood spent hearing stories about Ted Harris, who won five Stanley Cups during an NHL career that ran from 1963-64 to 1974-75.

“Uncle” Ted was a friend of my father’s who grew up on Jamison Avenue. They spent plenty of time together over the years; my parents visited him during his playing days in Montreal and later when he played for and coached the Minnesota North Stars. Whether after one of those trips, or when Uncle Ted came over to visit, my brother and I would hound him and my dad for stories about his playing days.

After nearly eight full minor-league seasons spent mostly in the AHL with Springfield, Harris got into four games at the end of the Habs’ 1963-64 season. He stuck in the NHL for good the next season, when Montreal ended a four-year drought to capture the Stanley Cup. He went on to hold the cup four times over the next six seasons, highlighted by the 1968-69 season when he made the year-end second-team all-star team and finished fourth in Norris Trophy balloting.

The Canadiens had plenty of colorful characters in that era, from legends such as Jean Beliveau and Henri Richard, to emerging stars such as Tony Esposito and Rogie Vachon. They also had characters like Terry Harper (never won a fight, my dad said, but he always answered the bell), Gump Worsley and John Ferguson, with whom Harris roomed for the majority of his Canadiens career.

When Harris and Worsley moved on to Minnesota, it was always interesting when the North Stars played the Habs. One time Fergie was deep in Minnesota’s end and as the play moved back the other way, he gave a bit of a slew foot to Worsley, which brought quite the response from Worsley’s wife, who made sure Fergie heard. Fergie turned around and smiled right at her on his return to the bench.

Harris spent the three-and-a-half seasons with the young North Stars, helping them to the playoffs in each of his three full seasons there. In 1970-71 he even earned a few Hart Trophy votes. Even though he played less than 300 games in Minnesota, Harris left quite the impression, as he made many all-time North Star teams over the years.

Early in the 73-74 season, Harris was traded to Detroit and then on to the St. Louis Blues. He only spent 24 games in St. Louis, but hockey card buffs will recall his image being placed on Ted Irvine’s hockey card the following year.

Harris’ career was winding down but he ended it in style, capturing his fifth Stanley Cup as a member of the famed Broad Street Bullies Philadelphia Flyers. After a one-year retirement, Harris was hired to coach the Minnesota North Stars, coaching them for 99 games before being fired. The following season he returned to Springfield, where his career began 22 years earlier, to coach their AHL team.

Tony Zerucha is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email him at tzerucha@gmail.com

Tony Zerucha
East Kildonan community correspondent

Tony Zerucha is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email him at tzerucha@gmail.com

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