Rick
Vaive

As an Ottawa native, Rick Vaive grew up with two stellar visions etched in his mind: play for the Leafs or Canadiens and win a Stanley Cup. Anything less would be great, but not the cigar he hoped to smoke.

Vaive launched his junior career as an offensive leviathan with the Sherbrooke Beavers of the QMJHL. After a stint with the Canadian National Junior team, he headed to the Southern U.S. to play for the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA. In his lone season as an 18-year-old "Baby Bull," he showed strong signs of becoming a power forward who corralled plenty of points and penalty minutes.

The Vancouver Canucks liked what they saw and selected Vaive 5th overall in the Entry Draft. Then, after 47 games they decided that they didn't like him so much after all, sending him to the Leafs along with Bill Derlago in 1980.

Wearing the Blue and White, Vaive teamed up with his set-up man, Derlago, to give frustrated Leaf fans a little something to cheer about. Although his team was, for the most part, inept, Vaive used his booming slapshot to become the first Leaf in franchise history to score 50 goals in one season. He got 54 in 1981-82 followed by seasons of 51 and then 52. But for all of the personal adulation he received as a scoring ace, he admitted that his team's inability to win with consistency skimmed some of the magic off the top of his success. He once confided that he'd trade his 50-goal campaigns for a chance to hold Lord Stanley.

Vaive was rewarded for his strong play with the Leafs' captaincy, a post he held until his team launched another of its cyclical house cleanings, sending him along with Steve Thomas and Bob McGill to Chicago in 1987. There, Vaive continued his solid offensive production for a season and a half before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres where he completed his NHL service in 1992.

Since leaving the ice, he has worked as a minor-league coach in such diverse settings as Hamilton, Charleston, St. John, and Mississauga.

Interview with a Legend

 

Rick Vaive may have been one of the most under-rated players to play in the NHL. For ten consecutive seasons he scored more than 30 goals per season. He scored more than 50 goals three consecutive seasons and was the first Maple Leaf to reach and pass the 50 goal barrier. He was a Toronto Maple Leaf Captain, an honour bestowed on very few. To be a Toronto Maple Leaf Captain you hold the most prestigious captaincy in the NHL.

 

Q: Tell us about the joys and challenges of coaching Minor Pro hockey!!

Vaive: To coach or play, you are really in the entertainment business. You attempt to create new schemes, new strategies to stay ahead of your opponents, just like songwriters, actors, authors and movie producers. With hockey you attempt to create an atmosphere so that 20 players can work together to win. Players challenge you to press the right button; some players need a pat on the back, some need to be motivated constantly, others need to be talked to quietly and privately. But the key for a good coach is to be able to communicate. You need to sell them about teamwork and about buying into a system; if you can't you won't succeed. To be successful a coach needs good players but conversely a good coach can make mediocre players better.

 

Q: To be the first Maple Leaf player to score 50 goals in a season had to be a dream come true!!

It was, and despite having lean years in Toronto we loved playing there and we always wanted to win for our loyal fans. I became the Maple Leaf Captain and that was a wonderful honour. It could be a burden because you became the most visible captain in Canadian sport. However back to my first 50th goal. It was at the Gardens in 1982 against St. Louis. It was on a power play, Derlago had the puck and passed it backhand across the ice to me in the slot and I one-timed it over defenseman Guy Lapointe and past goalie Mike Liut. The crowd went wild and it indeed was a Maple Leaf magical moment. I enjoyed two more fifty goal seasons and it wasn't the Stanley Cup but it somehow softened the fans anguish of not winning the mug since 1967.

 

Q: You told me an interesting story about Stanley Cups and a different philosophy!

I was having a debate with a hockey player; in fact it was quite an argument. The topic was “If you played ten years, won two Stanley Cups, and made ten million dollars, would that player be happier than one that played 20 years, with no Stanley Cups and made 20 million dollars?" The player said he would rather have the money than the Cups. I was in a state of shock! I'm certain most players would take less money just to hold and drink from the Stanley Cup just once.