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This is the story of a defenseman named Doug, who looked like a thug, liked to raise a jug, and on August 23, 1973, gave a shrug that seemed smug. Montreal native Doug Harvey was not shy about airing his beefs with the NHL and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Many felt he had been snubbed for induction in 1972, so when he was selected the following year, he skipped the ceremony.

Harvey’s history leading up to that point can be traced back to about 1942, when at 18, he began playing for the Montreal Junior Royals of the Quebec Junior Hockey League. In 1947, that led him to the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he won six Stanley Cup championships and the Norris Trophy six times. Despite his star power and skills, Harvey’s 14-season career with the Canadiens ended after he and Ted Lindsay tried to form a players’ association. On June 13, 1961, Harvey was traded to the New York Rangers, where he won his final Norris Trophy. Of the trade, Harvey commented, “It had to do with union activities. I was a first-team All-Star and won the Norris that year. You don’t give away a player like that.”

After two seasons with the Rangers and some time in the AHL, Harvey had a final hurrah playing a full season with the St. Louis Blues in 1968-69. The season ended with his final NHL team being swept in the Stanley Cup Final by his first NHL team.

In 1972, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s 12-member selection committee honored legends Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, and Bernie Geoffrion – all stars of Harvey’s era. When Harvey was not included with them, an uproar ensued. One of the selectors told the press, “There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about that. The fact is he wasn’t nominated a year ago because some people questioned whether or not three years had actually passed since he had retired from St. Louis. So he wasn’t voted down, he just wasn’t considered. But when you consider the fact we waived the three-year rule to put Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau in immediately, maybe there should have been a case made for Harvey, too. I’m not sure I agree with last year’s decision.”

The Hall looked to rectify the situation in 1973 and unanimously voted Harvey in. In May, when Harvey was working as assistant coach and chief scout for the WHA’s Houston Aeros, he was told there was a 95% chance he would be inducted. His response was to tell the Montreal Gazette, “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t give a damn whether they put me in there or not? You know, I’m not that type of guy who wants to be given special treatment. It doesn’t mean a bloody thing to me. I am what I am and that’s it. I enjoy the stuff of the trade, the guys, the talk, the laughs, and that’s it.” He later continued, “Mr. (Frank) Selke mentioned to me several times this year that he thought I might be in line this year, but I was wondering what they would do now that I’ve taken a job working with the other league.”

On June 13, Harvey received word that he had indeed been selected. He still looked down on the intended honor. “There was a fuss last year when I didn’t get in, and now I guess there will be a fuss this year, too. Frankly I’m not too interested. It just doesn’t mean that much to me anymore. I expect to be seeing Eddie Shore in a few days and I’ll ask him what he thinks I should do. And then there’s my two sons, too. If it really means a lot to them, well, then maybe I’ll consider accepting. But my first reaction is to tell them to forget about it.” Harvey stuck to his guns a month later when he joked, “I’m not sure when the induction ceremonies are, but whenever they are, I plan to be out fishing.”

The reason Harvey gave for boycotting had more to do with those who had and had not been selected before him. “I think there are a lot of citizens walking around the streets who are maybe a little more deserving than some of the citizens they have put in the place.” He followed that up by saying the Hall “overlooked a hell of a lot of fine hockey players because those players just didn’t know the right people.” Harvey claimed that the Hockey Hall of Fame was “nothing but politics, and that’s one game I’ve never played.” In choosing not to attend, he was in fact taking a political stance.

The induction ceremony was held at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in Toronto on August 23. Harvey was inducted in his absence. According to one recap of the event, “In announcing the award, no biography of Harvey was read and National Hockey League president Clarence Campbell made no comment on his failure to appear.” The curator for the Hockey Hall of Fame, Lefty Read, said that Harvey was probably the first to turn them down (though that did not stop them from enshrining him).

Those who did attend their induction that night were Rangers goalie Chuck Rayner, referee Frank Udvari, and former Canadiens owner Hartland Molson. Ottawa star Tommy Smith was inducted posthumously. 

As if Harvey wasn’t enough trouble, before the ceremony, the NHL had a closed-door meeting to discuss a crisis. The rival league, the WHA, had started drafting and signing juniors before they reached NHL draft eligibility at age 20. The most famous of these were the Howe brothers, 18-year-old Mark and 19-year-old Marty, who signed with Harvey’s Houston Aeros.

The NHL had to decide whether to renew their agreement with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and keep the age set at 20 or to let it expire and lower the age to 18. Following the meeting, President Clarence Campbell gave a statement that stressed “The problem cannot continue on this basis. We have formed a [six-man] committee to formulate a plan that will, as rapidly as possible, provide solutions to the problem.” The committee might lower the age to 18. “Our great interest is to preserve the structure of amateur hockey and to sign players only of eligible age. But if the only alternative is a plan whereby our teams are given authority to negotiate with under-age juniors, then we will be prepared to follow that course.”

The statement emphasized that merging the NHL and WHA was completely off the table. “The NHL similarly emphasizes that it has no interest and does not intend to propose any system for a common draft with the WHA.” As the WHA tried to find its own footing among other changes, it chose to go along with the original CAHA agreement. Its president, Gary Davidson, explained, “From a short-range view, we could have kept right on doing what we were doing, but we’re in business to stay, so over the long run, it was just good business sense to make a deal.” The age for the NHL Entry Draft was lowered to 18 in 1980, just one season after the final four WHA teams were incorporated into the NHL.

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