Westfall, a forward whose checking and skating skills were good enough to allow him to play as a defenseman early in his career, was a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Boston Bruins and the first captain of the New York Islanders.

Westfall made his NHL debut with the Bruins in 1961-62, and by 1967, he was part of a checking line that became one of the best in the NHL as the Bruins added stars like Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, enabling Westfall to thrive in a defense-oriented role. He and Derek Sanderson also became one of the League's best pairs on the penalty-kill.

When the Bruins ended a 29-season Stanley Cup drought in 1970, completing a sweep of the St. Louis Blues, Westfall was on the ice and had dropped back to cover the right point when Orr drove to the net and scored the winner in overtime.

The following season, Westfall had his best offensive season, finishing with 59 points (25 goals, 34 assists) and a plus-57 rating before helping the Bruins win the Cup for the second time in three seasons in 1972.

However, that season would be Westfall's last in Boston after the Islanders selected him in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft. He was then named captain and scored the first goal in team history against the Atlanta Flames on Oct. 7, 1972. Westfall would go on to score 15 goals and rank second on the team with 46 points, but the Islanders went 12-60 with six ties in their first season, setting the NHL record at the time for most losses in a season.

The Islanders began to improve after Al Arbour was hired as coach for the 1973-74 season, and as was the case with the Bruins, Westfall became more valuable as his team got better. New York qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 1975, and Westfall scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 of the quarterfinals that made the Islanders only the second team in NHL history to win a playoff series after losing the first three games.

Westfall had his best offensive season with the Islanders in 1975-76, scoring 25 goals and finishing with 56 points. The following season he won the Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

Westerfall gave up the captain's role after that season (he was replaced by Clark Gillies) and retired two years later, finishing with 625 points (231 goals, 394 assists) in 1,226 regular-season games over 18 NHL seasons, and 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) in 95 playoff games.

Though Westfall retired one season before the Islanders began their streak of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships, he had a front-row seat for his former team's dynasty as their TV color commentator.