Helper Haul: As the Montreal Canadiens wound up their regular season at the end of March in 1957, Doug Harvey set a new NHL record, registering his 44th assist, the most ever recorded by a defenceman in a single season. (He did it in 70 games.) It was his own old NHL record he was breaking: two seasons earlier he’d notched 43. Many goal-minded defencemen have since surpassed the mark, of course, with Bobby Orr at the top of the heap: in 1970-71, he piled up 102 assists in 78 games. Born in Montreal on a Friday of this date in 1924, Harvey never had a better offensive season than he did in ’56-57, scoring six goals and 50 points. He was named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team and won (another) Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman that year as the Canadiens won a second successive Stanley Cup championship. (Image: Fonds La Presse, BAnQ Vieux-Montréal)