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37. Rick Vaive

37. Rick Vaive

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had their share of titles and snipers, but it is a surprise to some to learn that Rick Vaive was the first player in franchise history to score 50 Goals in a season.

Arriving from Vancouver in early 1980, Vaive blossomed into one of Toronto’s top goal scorers of the 1980s, who not only had that aforementioned 50-Goal year (1981-82) with 54, he eclipsed the 50-Goal mark the next two seasons.  The Right Wing was also an All-Star in all of those seasons.  Vaive’s lamp-lighting production dipped after that, but in those three years, 30-Goal outputs were perfectly respectable.  

Vaive was traded to Chicago right before the 1987-88 season began, and as a Maple Leaf, he had 299 Goals, and was a point-per-game player.

The Bullet Points

  • Position: Right Wing
  • Acquired: Traded from the Vancouver Canucks with Bill Derlago for Jerry Butler and Tiger Williams 2/18/80.
  • Departed: Traded to the Chicago Blackhawks with Bob McGill and Steve Thomas for Ed Olcyzk and Al Secord 9/3/87.
  • Games Played: 534
  • Notable Statistics:

    299 Goals
    238 Assists 
    537 Points 
    940 PIM 
    1.01 PPG 
    -68 Plus/Minus
    44.7 Point Shares 

    33 Playoff Games
    14 Goals
    9 Assists 
    23 Points 
    53 PIM 
    0.72 PPG 
    -10 Plus/Minus

  • Major Accolades and Awards:

    All-Star (1982, 1983 & 1984)

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