Dave Keon

At 84 years old, Dave Keon has this physical status:

David Michael "Dave" Keon (born March 22, 1940) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey center.

He played for five years, mostnotably with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986.

In 2010, Keon was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

Keon was named the best player in the Toronto Maple Leafs' centennial celebrations on October 16, 2016.

Keon was voted one of the Top 100 Greatest NHL Players in history in 2017.

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Playing career

Keon played junior hockey in Toronto for the St. Michael's Buzzers of the Ontario Hockey Association's Metro Junior B league in 1956–57; he scored seven goals in one game on December 20, 1956. He was named to the league's eastern all-star team in February 1957 and was selected by NHL scouts as the top prospect in the league. Keon was voted the league's rookie of the year, finishing second in scoring, and his team won the league championship. He appeared in a few games for the Junior A St. Michael's Majors in the spring and then joined the club full time in 1958-1958. Keon played for St. Michael's until the 1960s when he turned professional and joined the Sudbury Wolves of the Eastern Professional Hockey League for four playoff games. They will be the only games he'll ever play in the minor leagues.

Keon spent five years with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie with 20 goals and 45 points in his first season. It was his first of six consecutive 20-goal seasons. Keon was named to the second All-Star team and captured the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as the most gentlemanly player in the league, despite only taking one minor penalty throughout the entire season. He was crowned Lady Byng champion in 1962-63, but he had only one minor penalty all year.

He was the Leafs' leading scorer in the 1963–64, 1966–67, and 1969–70 seasons, as well as the team's top goal scorer in 1970–72 and 1972–73. Keon was rated as one of the best defensive forwards of his time in the NHL and one of the best defensive forwards of his time. He'd usually play against the opposition team's top center, and he had a reputation for neutralizing some of the league's top scorers. He scored eight shorthanded goals in 1970–74, breaking an NHL record for the most shorthanded goals scored in a single season, which would later be broken by Marcel Dionne in 1974–75 for 10 shorthanded goals (Dionne's record was broken by 1984-1984 with 12 shorthanded goals). In return, Gretzky's record will be beaten by Mario Lemieux in 1988-89, when Lemieux scored 13 shorthanded goals in a season.

Keon was a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs for four Stanley Cups, including those of 1961-1961, 1962–63, 1963–64, and 1966–67. He shut down Jean Béliveau, the Montreal Canadiens' star centreman, in the last two games of the season, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1967. Keon's eight points are the fewest ever by a non-goal Conn Smythe winner, and he remains the only Leaf to have won the trophy named for the club's former owner.

On October 31, 1969, he was named team captain, succeeding George Armstrong, who was reported to be retiring from hockey. Armstrong returned to the Leafs two weeks later and played for another two seasons, but Keon stayed captain and will wear the C for the remainder of his career with the Leafs.

Keon wanted to make Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series, but he was coming off one of his worst years in his career, finishing the 1971–72 season with his lowest points-per-game average since his rookie year. Keon and Bobby Clarke were the final picks for Team Canada. Clarke is believed to have been chosen because he had more points.

Although Keon was not selected for Team Canada, the Ottawa Nationals of the World Hockey Association made a strong attempt to recruit Keon, who had been on the negotiation list earlier this year. Keon did not have the leadership the team needed during the previous season, according to Harold Ballard, the Leafs' majority owner, and was unwilling to give Keon a large salary increase after a poor year. Keon signed a letter of intent with the Nationals and received a $50,000 cheque from the team, but the contract fell apart right before training camp. Keon signed a three-year contract with the Leafs and the team resurgent in 1972–73, scoring 37 goals. He scored his 297th goal as a Leaf on November 22, 1972, defeating Armstrong and Frank Mahovlich to become the team's all-time top goal scorer.

Ballard blasted Keon early in the 1974-1975 season, saying that the team was not getting good leadership from its captain and vowing never to sign a no-trade clause in a deal as he did with Keon. Ballard said Keon's deal came to an end at the end of the season, but that he had no place on the Leafs. The Leafs thought they had some solid young players at center that needed more ice time, and Keon was looking for a deal with a no-trade clause. The 35-year-old Keon was told he could make his own deal with another NHL team, but any club that has signed him would have to pay the Leafs. Even though the Leafs had no intention of retaining him, Ballard set the compensation price so high that other teams shied away from signing him. In effect, Ballard had blocked Keon from moving to another NHL team.

Keon jumped to the World Hockey Association in August 1975, with the Leafs still owning his NHL rights. He reportedly played for the Minnesota Fighting Saints for two seasons. Harry Neale, an old friend of Keon's, was the Saints' head coach. The team, as well as Keon, did well, but the team and the team did not do well financially, but the team was in debt. The team folded after 21 games were remaining in the season. Keon was scheduled to return to the league but was not included in the dispersal transfer of Saints players to other WHA clubs. Keon was wanted by the NHL, but the Leafs needed to reach an understanding for his NHL rights. The Leafs' asking price (said to have been a first-round draft pick) was too steep, and a dissatisfied Keon signed with the Indianapolis Racers in March 1976 was disappointed.

The Fighting Saints were resurgent for the 1976–77 season, and Keon was sent back to Minnesota, but the team slowed for good halfway through the season (with Keon as the team's top scorer). Keon was briefly the property of the Edmonton Oilers but he was traded to the New England Whalers shortly after in January 1977.

He will continue with the Whalers for the remainder of his career. Keon was recruited by Gordie Howe, who at age 50, was the team's top scorer that season. Keon was back in the league in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers, which later became one of four WHA teams to play in the NHL. Established NHL franchisees were able to reclaim the majority of their WHA rights under their control as a result of the merger agreement. Nonetheless, even though Keon was not shielded from reclamation by the Whalers in the reclamation draft, the Maple Leafs refused to reclaim their former captain, allowing him to remain in Hartford. Bobby Hull was a member of the Whales in 2002, with Keon, Howe, and Hull often playing as a forward line. Howe and Hull came to an end at the end of the season. Keon was the oldest active player in the NHL after Terry Harper's retirement in 1981. Keon spent two more seasons with the Whalers before resigning on June 30, 1982, at the age 42. Keon was the last active player to play a full season in the Original Six era.

Career statistics

* Stanley Cup Champion.

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Awards and honours

• Calder Memorial Trophy: 1961
• Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: 1962, 1963
• NHL second All-Star team: 1962, 1971
• NHL All-Star Game: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973
• Stanley Cup: 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967
• J. P. Bickell Cup: 1962, 1963
• Conn Smythe Trophy: 1967
• Paul Deneau Trophy: 1977, 1978
• Hockey Hall of Fame: 1986
• In 1998, Keon was ranked number 69 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
• The Aréna Dave Keon in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec is named in his honour
• Inaugural member of the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the "Legends of the game" category: 2010
• Statue on Toronto's Legends Row in front of Scotiabank Arena.
• Greatest Toronto Maple Leaf
• #14 jersey retired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• In January, 2017, Keon was commemorated as one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players.
• In 2018, Keon was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.