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Rick Vaive: Gordie Howe Hat Trick Against the Quebec Nordiques (December 6, 1980)


1980-81 was Rick Vaive's first full season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after coming over in a February 18, 1980 trade midway through the 1979-80 season. That was the trade that sent Dave "Tiger" Williams and Jerry Butler to the Vancouver Canucks while Bill Derlago came east along with Vaive.

On December 6, 1980, the Buds were hosting the Quebec Nordiques at Maple Leaf Gardens. This was the first of a home-and-home on back to back nights. Interestingly, the following game also featured a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. The Leafs handled the woeful Nordiques handily in a 5-2 win with Darryl Sittler picking up a pair of goals.

The Goal

Rick Vaive scored his eleventh goal of the season at 17:44 of the second period, assisted by Borje Salming. It was the fourth goal of the game for Toronto and made the score 4-1. 27 seconds later, Jacques Richard would get one back for Quebec with assists going to Dale Hunter and Michel Goulet.

The Assist

At 3:27 of the second period, Robert Picard picked up his first goal of the season to make the score 2-0 for the Maple leafs. Vaive and Pat Hickey assisted on the marker. Picard would score five more goals in 1980-81 for the Maple Leafs but his time with the club was short. He appeared in just 59 games as a Maple Leaf before a March 10, 1981 trade sent him the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Michel Larocque.

The Fight

Rick Vaive is arguably the top sniper in Toronto Maple Leafs history. However, in his junior career and his earlier days in the National Hockey League, his game had a definite edge to it. In that 1980-81 NHL season, Vaive collected 229 penalty minutes which placed him ninth in the league, just a minor penalty behind eighth place Barry Beck. But, Rick also scored a very respectable 33 goals in his sophomore year in the NHL.

At 13:40 of the first period, he tangled with Normand Rochefort of the Nordiques. Along with the obligatory five minute majors for fighting, Vaive received a minor for slashing while Rochefort received two minors, one for roughing and one for interference.

The only other fight in the came occurred in the third period when Dale Hunter of the Nordiques did battle with Terry Martin of the Maple Leafs. Both were on the cusp of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick with Hunter assisting on the Jacques Richard goal and Martin getting a helper on the opening goal of the game by Darryl Sittler.

Rick Vaive

Rick Vaive would finish the 1980-81 season with 33 goals and 29 assists for 62 points. Bigger things were to come with three consecutive 50+ goal seasons starting in 1981-82. His career best came in 1981-82 with 54 goals.

Between 1979-80 and 1991-92, Rick played in 876 regular season and 54 playoff games in the National Hockey League. He was a fifth overall pick by the Vancouver Canucks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft but played just 47 games with the club. Vaive also played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres during his NHL career.


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