Nevin, an excellent two-way forward who played 18 seasons in the NHL, was a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Toronto Maple Leafs early in his career and became one of the few players in any sport to put up his best offensive totals after his 35th birthday. He was also one of the first NHL players to wear contact lenses while he played.

The native of South Porcupine, Ontario, excelled in junior hockey with the Toronto Marlboros and was just 19 when he made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs against the New York Rangers on Dec. 8, 1957. He played four games with the Maple Leafs in 1957-58 and two the following season before making the Maple Leafs to stay in 1960-61, scoring 21 goals and 58 points to finish second in voting for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Nevin dropped to 15 goals in 1961-62 and 12 in 1962-63; however, he earned a Stanley Cup ring each year after the Maple Leafs won back-to-back championships. But though the Maple Leafs made it three in a row in 1964, Nevin wasn't there to see it - he was part of a five-player package sent to the Rangers on Feb. 22, 1964, in a trade that brought forwards Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney to the Maple Leafs.

The Rangers were in a down phase that saw them miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs in four straight seasons. But their lack of talent up front gave Nevin a chance to play a bigger offensive role, as well as serving as captain from 1965-71. He scored 29 goals in 1965-66, 20 in 1966-67 (when the Rangers returned to the playoffs) and 31 in 1968-69. In the 1971 playoffs, his overtime goal in Game 6 of the Quarterfinals against Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens gave the Rangers their first playoff series victory since 1950.

However, that was his last hurrah in New York. The Rangers traded Nevin, now 33, to the Minnesota North Stars on June 8, 1971. After scoring 21 goals for New York in 1970-71, Nevin managed just 20 in two seasons with the North Stars, who lost him to the Los Angeles Kings in the Reverse Draft during the summer of 1973.

Bob Pulford, a former teammate of Nevin's in Toronto, was coaching the Kings and felt he still had something left. Nevin proved him right, scoring 20 goals and 50 points in 1973-74 before matching his NHL career high with 31 goals and finishing with a career-best 72 points (and a plus-36 rating) in 1974-75, helping the Kings set a team record with 105 points. He dropped to 13 goals and 55 points in 1975-76, then played 13 games with the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association in 1976-77 before retiring.

In 1,128 NHL games, Nevin scored 726 points (307 goals, 419 assists), as well as 16 goals and 34 points in 84 playoff games.