Rick Vaive

Richard Claude Vaive (born May 14, 1959 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), was a professional player.

Vaive was raised in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and was selected fifth overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. His professional career, which started with the WHA's Birmingham Bulls, lasted from 1978 until 1992.

Playing career
In 1980, the Canucks traded Vaive, along with Bill Derlago, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Dave "Tiger" Williams and Jerry Butler. Vaive scored prolifically with the Leafs, becoming the first 50-goal scorer in franchise history, surpassing that threshold three times. He recorded 54 goals in 1981–82, 51 goals in 1982–83, and 52 goals in 1983–84. He also served as captain of the Maple Leafs from 1981 to 1986. Vaive was stripped of his Leaf captaincy during the 1985–86 NHL season, after missing a morning practice.

Vaive was a late cut from the 1984 Canada Cup team.

His trade from Toronto to Chicago before the 1987 season is still remembered as one of the highly criticized trades made by team owner Harold Ballard. He finished his NHL career playing parts of four seasons with the Buffalo Sabres.

Coaching career
Vaive had a career as a professional hockey coach in the East Coast Hockey League and the American Hockey League after his retirement from the NHL, serving as a head coach in 1993 with the expansion South Carolina Stingrays, winning two division titles (1995 and 1997), a conference championship (1997), and under his watch became the first ECHL coach in history to win both the Brabham Cup and Kelly Cup in the same season, in the 1996–97 season. He served one season with the Mississauga Ice Dogs before Don Cherry took over as head coach.

Coaching statistics
Season Team                      Lge  Type       GP W   L  T OTL   Pct Result 1993-94 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL Head Coach 68 33 26  0   9 0.551 Lost in round 1 1994-95 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL Head Coach 68 42 19  0   7 0.669 Lost in round 2 1995-96 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL Head Coach 70 40 22  0   8 0.629 Lost in round 2 1996-97 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL Head Coach 70 45 15 10   0 0.714 Won Championship 1997-98 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL Head Coach 70 41 23  6   0 0.629 Lost in round 1 1998-99 Saint John Flames         AHL Head Coach 80 31 40  8   1 0.444 Lost in round 2 1999-00 Saint John Flames         AHL Head Coach 80 32 32 11   5 0.500 Lost in round 1 2000-01 Mississauga IceDogs       OHL Head Coach 68 3 56   7   2 0.110 2004-05 Dundas Real McCoys      OHASr Head Coach 34 20 12  0   2 0.618