Ron Harris (ice hockey)
Ronald Thomas Harris (born June 30, 1942) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played 476 games in the National Hockey League. He played for the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland Seals, Atlanta Flames, and New York Rangers.
| Ron Harris | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
June 30, 1942 Verdun, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for |
Detroit Red Wings Oakland Seals Atlanta Flames New York Rangers | ||
| Playing career | 1962–1976 | ||
On January 13, 1968, Harris, playing with the Oakland Seals against the Minnesota North Stars, was involved in the accident that caused the death of Bill Masterton. Harris is still plagued with memories of the incident to this day and has conducted only one interview on this subject (with the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2003) where he stated, "It bothers you the rest of your life. It wasn't dirty and it wasn't meant to happen that way. Still, it's very hard because I made the play. It's always in the back of my mind."
After Harris retired from the NHL, he began getting involved in other areas of the game, coaching the Windsor Spitfires and Spokane Flyers at the major junior level, and later working as an assistant coach for the Quebec Nordiques in the NHL.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1960–61 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA-Jr. | 47 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 63 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | ||
| 1961–62 | Hamilton Red Wings | OHA-Jr. | 50 | 7 | 29 | 36 | 85 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 25 | ||
| 1962–63 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1962–63 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 62 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 88 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963–64 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963–64 | Cincinnati Wings | CPHL | 66 | 4 | 21 | 25 | 129 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Memphis Wings | CPHL | 70 | 18 | 18 | 36 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1965–66 | San Francisco Seals | WHL-Sr. | 54 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 74 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | ||
| 1966–67 | California Seals | WHL-Sr. | 31 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 40 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | ||
| 1967–68 | California/Oakland Seals | NHL | 54 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1968–69 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 73 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 72 | 2 | 19 | 21 | 99 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 1970–71 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 42 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 61 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 24 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | New York Rangers | NHL | 46 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1973–74 | New York Rangers | NHL | 63 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 25 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | ||
| 1974–75 | New York Rangers | NHL | 34 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 1975–76 | New York Rangers | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 476 | 20 | 91 | 111 | 474 | 28 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 33 | ||||