Rick Vaive was the first player in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs to score at least 50 goals in a season.

Vaive was selected by the Vancouver Canucks with the No. 5 pick in 1979 NHL Draft after he scored 26 goals and had 248 penalty minutes with Birmingham of the World Hockey Association. However, after scoring 13 goals in 47 games with the Canucks, he was traded to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 18, 1980.

After finishing his rookie season with nine goals in 22 games for Toronto, Vaive scored 33 goals in 1980-81 and 54 in 1981-82, the first of three consecutive seasons with at least 50 goals. He was also named captain of the Maple Leafs during that season.

But after dipping to 35 goals in 1984-85, then scoring 33 and 32 in the next two seasons, Vaive was involved in one of the biggest trades of the 1980s. On Sept. 3, 1987, the Maple Leafs traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks along with forward Steve Thomas and defenseman Bob McGill for forwards Ed Olczyk and Al Secord.

Vaive rebounded and scored 43 goals in his first season with Chicago, but scored 12 goals in 30 games in 1988-89 before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 26, 1988. He finished that season with 19 goals in 28 games for Buffalo, then scored 29 and 25 in the following two seasons.

However, after scoring one goal in 20 games for the Sabres in 1991-92, he was sent down to Rochester of the American Hockey League.

The Canucks re-signed him on Sept. 2, 1992, but Vaive spent that season with Hamilton of the AHL before retiring with 788 points (441 goals, 347 assists) in 876 regular-season games, and 43 points (27 goals, 16 assists) in 54 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Though Vaive never won the Stanley Cup as a player, he did earn a championship as a coach, guiding South Carolina to the ECHL's Kelly Cup in 1997. He also coached Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League for one season and later returned to Toronto to work for Leafs TV.