Ted Harris spent eight seasons in the minors before getting his break in the National Hockey League. During that time, he was a part of four Calder Cup winning teams in the AHL. When he did get to finally play in the NHL, he brought his winning ways with him. Harris would help the Montreal Canadiens to four Stanley Cup wins. Ted won a fifth Stanley Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers in his final year as a player.
Ted Harris – Junior and Minor Pro
Harris played three years of junior hockey in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Winnipeg Monarchs from 1953-54 to 1955-56. In 1954-55, Ted and the Monarchs finished first overall in the MJHL. The team then won the Turnbull Cup as playoff champions over the Winnipeg Barons in the finals.
Ted Harris Collection
That Winnipeg team then reached the Abbott Cup finals to determine which team from Western Canada would go on and compete for the Memorial Cup. The Monarchs came up short against the Regina Pats. In that 1954-55 season, Harris was named a First Team All-Star defenseman in the MJHL.
What followed his time in junior was eight years in the minors. Over that time, Harris played in 352 American Hockey League regular season games, 123 in the Eastern Hockey League and 58 in the WHL.
In his rookie pro season, 1956-57, with the Philadelphia Ramblers of the EHL, Harris made the transition easy from junior hockey. Over 61 games, he scored 11 and assisted on 33 for 44 points from the blue line. The Ramblers lost in the EHL finals to the Charlotte Clippers. Unfortunately, the EHL Rookie of the Year award was not introduced until 1961-62. Surely, Ted would have been a candidate.
Harris went on to be part of the powerhouse Springfield Indians of the early 1960’s. The Indians won three consecutive Calder Cup championships from 1959-60 to 1961-62. Unfortunately, it all came crashing down on Springfield in 1962-63. The team finished last in the Eastern Division and did not qualify for the post season. Ted finished third in the AHL that year with 172 penalty minutes, 24 behind leader Ed Van Impe of the Buffalo Bisons.
It came together for Harris in 1963-64 with the Cleveland Barons in the American Hockey League. It would be his final year in the minors and Fred Glover was coaching the Barons and leading them on the ice offensively. Cleveland finished a modest third in the four team Western Division but captured the Calder Cup with a win over the Floyd Curry coached Quebec Aces in the finals.
In 1963-64, Harris was selected as a First Team All-Star defender and won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s top blue liner. He would also see his first NHL action that year in the form of four games with the Habs. By the following season, Ted was in the National Hockey League for good.
Ted Harris – NHL
Between 1963-64 and 1974-75, Ted Harris played 788 regular season games in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers. Over that time, the rock solid D-man scored just 30 goals and assisted on 168 for 198 points. In 100 Stanley Cup playoff games, he scored just a single goal and assisted on 22 more.
Over his career, Harris got his name engraved on the Stanley Cup five times. With the Canadiens, he won in 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68 and 1968-69. With the Philadelphia Flyers, he won in 1974-75. It was the Broad Street Bullies second consecutive championship, winning over the Buffalo Sabres in the finals.
Ted was selected as a Second Team All-Star just once. In 1968-69, he shared the blue line with Ted Green of the Boston Bruins. On the First Team were Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins and Tim Horton of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After being picked up by the North Stars for the 1970-71 NHL season, Harris was team captain until a trade 12 games into the 1973-74 season. That 1973-74 season was a busy one for Ted. He started with the North Stars but was traded to the Detroit Red Wings on November 6 for Gary Bergman. On February 13, he was traded again, this time to the Blues with Garnet ‘Ace’ Bailey and Bill Collins for Chris Evans, Jean Hamel and Bryan Watson.
Ted Harris – Coaching
After a year away from the game, Harris took over the head coaching duties for the Minnesota North Stars. The 1976-77 North Stars finished second in the very weak Smythe Division with just 64 points over 80 games. Minnesota was quickly eliminated in the preliminary round by the Buffalo Sabres in two games. Buffalo outscored the Stars 11-3 on the series.
In 1977-78, Ted lasted just 19 games with Minnesota before being replaced by Andre Beaulieu. Beaulieu was eventually replaced by Lou Nanne towards the end of the season.
The following year, Harris took his final shot at coaching with the team he won three Calder Cups with nearly two decades before. The Springfield Indians didn’t keep Ted around long, however. He was replaced midseason by Pete Stemkowski. The Indians finished the season last in the Northern Division and did not qualify for the post season.
Ted Harris – Rookie Card
The Ted Harris rookie card appears as number 5 in the 1965-66 Topps set. He is shown as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. The card, like most of the ones to follow, refers to his being named top defenseman in the AHL two years before.
Ted’s final card appears in the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee and 1973-74 Topps sets. This was odd considering he played a nearly full season in 1974-75 with the Flyers. The 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee card shows Harris with the Red Wings, his second team of three that year. The Topps card shows him still with the North Stars, the team he started the season with. He would never be on a card as a member of the Blues or Flyers.
Ted Harris Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1956-57 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1956-57 | Philadelphia Ramblers | EHL | 61 | 11 | 33 | 44 | 103 |
| 1957-58 | Philadelphia Ramblers | EHL | 62 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 82 |
| 1958-59 | Victoria Cougars | WHL | 58 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 82 |
| 1958-59 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| 1959-60 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 63 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 100 |
| 1960-61 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 69 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 76 |
| 1961-62 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 70 | 2 | 29 | 31 | 142 |
| 1962-63 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 72 | 8 | 30 | 38 | 172 |
| 1963-64 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1963-64 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 67 | 6 | 23 | 29 | 109 |
| 1964-65 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 107 |
| 1965-66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 53 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 87 |
| 1966-67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 65 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 86 |
| 1967-68 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 78 |
| 1968-69 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 76 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 102 |
| 1969-70 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 74 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 116 |
| 1970-71 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 130 |
| 1971-72 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 77 |
| 1972-73 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 78 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 83 |
| 1973-74 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 1973-74 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 41 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 66 |
| 1973-74 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 24 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| 1974-75 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 70 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 48 |
| NHL Totals | 788 | 30 | 168 | 198 | 1000 |