Rick Vaive

Rick Vaive was born on May 14 1959, in Ottawa Ontario. He played his junior hockey with the Sherbrooke Beavers of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and in 1978 played with the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Vancouver Canucks drafted Vaive first round, #5 overall in the 1979 NHL entry draft. He played part of his rookie season with Vancouver before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Bill Derlago for Jerry Butler and Dave "Tiger" Williams. By 1980, the right winger had begun to show the rare combination of scoring prowess and toughness. In 1980-81 he scored 33 goals, 29 assits for 62 points and racked up 229 penalty minutes.

Between 1981 and 1984, Rick Vaive had three consecutive 50+ goal seasons. He scored 299 goals in just over seven years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1987 Rick Vaive, Bob McGill and Steve Thomas were traded to the to Chicago Blackhawks for Ed Olczyk and Al Secord. Vaive continued to have success in Chicago but was traded halfway into the 1988-89 season to the Buffalo Sabres for Adam Creighton. He spent parts of the next four seasons in Buffalo along with a couple of stints in the American Hockey League (AHL). He retired from professional hockey in 1993 and made a brief comeback in 2002 with the Dundas Real McCoys of the Ontario Hockey Association's senior league. Rick Vaive also tried his hand at coaching in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), American Hockey League (AHL) and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Rick Vaive's Career Statistics

Year     Team                  GP   G   A   Pts   Pim
1979-80  Vancouver Canucks     47  13   8    21   111
1979-80  Toronto Maple Leafs   22   9   7    16    77
1980-81  Toronto Maple Leafs   75  33  29    62   229
1981-82  Toronto Maple Leafs   77  54  35    89   157
1982-83  Toronto Maple Leafs   78  51  28    79   105
1983-84  Toronto Maple Leafs   76  52  41    93   114
1984-85  Toronto Maple Leafs   72  35  33    68   112
1985-86  Toronto Maple Leafs   61  33  31    64    85
1986-87  Toronto Maple Leafs   73  32  34    66    61
1987-88  Chicago Blackhawks    76  43  26    69   108
1988-89  Chicago Blackhawks    30  12  13    25    60
1988-89  Buffalo Sabres        28  19  13    32    64
1989-90  Buffalo Sabres        70  29  19    48    74
1990-91  Buffalo Sabres        71  25  27    52    74
1991-92  Buffalo Sabres        20   1   3     4    14
Career Totals                 876 441 347   788  1445 

Rick Vaive Pictures

Autographed Rick Vaive Memorabilia