Stories Of Dave Keon

What follows is six stories from the Hockey Hall of Fame career of Dave Keon from his days with the Toronto Maple Leafs and later on with the Hartford Whalers after his time in the WHA was over. Keon’s career stats follow, along with a hockey card video and a hockey card collection.

Dave Keon NHL Career Stats

Dave Keon Hockey Card Video

Dave Keon Hockey Card Collection

Dave Keon, Maple Leafs legend, puts up 12% of his 1964-65 points in just 1 game against the Red Wings

The 1964-65 Detroit Red Wings finished first overall in the NHL, 13 points ahead of the fourth place Toronto Maple Leafs. Going into what was already their fifth head to head matchup on December 5, 1964 at Maple Leaf Gardens, Detroit was already the frontrunner in the National Hockey League.

On that night, however, Dave Keon, Andy Bathgate and Terry Sawchuk didn’t let that bother them. Dave totaled six points on two goals and four assists. Toronto came out on top in a blowout, 10-2. Keon was left off the scoresheet in the first period with the Buds jumping out to a 2-1 lead.

The second period was all Toronto with the Maple Leafs scoring four before Detroit added their second goal of the game, scored by future Maple Leaf Norm Ullman with 48 seconds left in the frame. Dave Keon assisted on a Jim Pappin marker at 6:23 and a goal by Ron Ellis at 14:08.

In the third, Keon was involved in all four goals. Just 21 seconds in, he and Red Kelly assisted on Andy Bathgate’s ninth of the season. He then scored a pair before getting the helper on a Ron Ellis goal at 13:06, the last of the game.

Andy Bathgate had a goal and three assists for a four point night while leading the team with six shots on net. In total, the Buds fired 41 at Detroit’s rookie sensation Roger Crozier. In the Toronto nets was Terry Sawchuk. Terry had come over from the Red Wings in the off-season and was playing in his third game against his old club since arriving in Toronto. The Wings put 36 shots on their former goalie with just Pit Martin and Norm Ullman getting pucks past him.

Keon finished the 1964-65 NHL season with 50 points, down from 60 in the previous season. His six points against the Red Wings accounted for 12% of his season total.

Penalty Kill Perfection: Dave Keon Nets a Hat Trick (Including 2 SHG) in 1970

On December 2, 1970, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dave Keon put on a penalty-killing clinic at Maple Leaf Gardens and turned it into a hat trick showcase.

Facing the Los Angeles Kings, Keon scored two shorthanded goals and added a third at even strength, powering the Leafs to a dominant 7-0 victory. His first shorty came in the second period while Jim Harrison was in the box for elbowing. George Armstrong, “The Chief”, in his final NHL season, provided the assist as Keon beat Jack Norris at 9:36.

Then, early in the third, Keon struck again on the penalty kill, this time assisted by Billy MacMillan while Paul Henderson was off for tripping. He finished off the hat trick midway through the final frame with a five-on-five tally from Mike Pelyk and Garry Monahan.

Veteran goalie Jacques Plante turned aside 35 shots for the shutout, and Ron Ellis chipped in with two goals and an assist. Even Armstrong, nearing the end of his storied career, notched a pair of helpers.
This game marked just the seventh win in the Leafs’ first 23 games of the 1970–71 season. But Keon’s inspired play was a bright spot in a rough start.

Over his Hall of Fame career, Keon scored 32 shorthanded goals, placing him in a four-way tie for 17th all-time alongside Peter Bondra, Bobby Clarke, and Joe Sakic. His eight SHG in 1970–71 tied him for the league lead with Boston’s Ed Westfall and Don Marcotte.

Dave Keon Finds An Offensive Oasis Against Chicago In Latter Half Of 1965-66 NHL Season

Going into a March 5, 1966 game at Maple Leaf Gardens against the Chicago Blackhawks, Dave Keon had gone the previous nine games without a goal. Following this matchup, he would score just three over the final 14 games of the 1965-66 NHL season. However, on this night, Keon was in the zone.

Just 1:07 into the match, Keon scored what would remain as the game winning goal in the 5-0 Toronto victory. It was his 19th of the season, scored on Chicago goalie Glenn Hall, assisted by Bob Baun and Allan Stanley. It was the only goal of the first period.

Chicago’s Stan Mikita took a cross checking penalty after the buzzer at the end of the first period. Dave jumped on the power play opportunity 50 seconds into the second with help from Kent Douglas and George Armstrong. Keon made it the natural hat trick at 12:17 of the second, assisted by Larry Hillman. George Armstrong and Ron Ellis scored for the Leafs in the third to make the final 5-0.

Keon had six shots on net but it was Bob Pulford leading the way with eight, despite being left off the scoresheet. Bruce Gamble made 33 saves for the shutout. As expected, Bobby Hull led the Blackhawks with six shots but couldn’t get one past Gamble.

Dave Keon And The Art Of Taking Control In The Big Games

The Toronto Maple Leafs met the Montreal Canadiens in the 1964 Stanley Cup semi-final. The Habs had a seven point edge in the regular season standings and never trailed the Maple Leafs in the series going into game seven. That was when Dave Keon decided he wanted a third consecutive championship and took matters into his own hands.

On April 9, 1964, the two teams met for game seven at the Montreal Forum. Keon scored his first of the series and first of the game at 8:22 of the first period on Charlie Hodge, assisted by Don McKenney and Bob Baun.

A few minutes later, with Andy Bathgate in the box for hooking, Keon scored his second of the game shorthanded with help from George Armstrong. This put the Leafs up 2-0 and would stand as the game winning goal. Ralph Backstrom got Montreal on the board at 7:27 of the third but Keon iced the series, scoring his third of the game into the empty net with eleven seconds left in the match.

Keon’s hat trick performance overshadowed the fact that Johnny Bower stood on his head, making 38 saves on 39 shots for the win. Things didn’t get easier for Toronto. The final series against the Detroit Red Wings went the full seven games, as well. Down 3-2 in the set, the Leafs needed a Bob Baun goal in overtime to win game six and stay alive.

Dave Keon Returns To Maple Leaf Gardens To Play Buds As A Hartford Whaler

Dave Keon played his last game with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens on April 19, 1975, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers that finished off a quarter-final sweep by the Broad Street Bullies. On October 21, 1979, Keon returned to Toronto for his first NHL game in the city in 1,646 days.

It was just Hartford’s tenth game as an NHL franchise but they came out on top in this match, winning 4-2. Keon scored a goal at 8:43 of the second period, assisted by Blaine Stoughton and Bill Bennett to make the score 2-1 for the Whalers.

3:06 into the third, Stoughton, another former Maple Leaf that left for the WHA, scored what would be the game winning goal, assisted by Keon. Despite the loss, Leafs fans had to have gone home with a bit of a smile, witnessing Dave’s two point game along with a goal by Gordie Howe assisted by his son Mark.

John Garrett stood on his head for the Whalers, stopping 37 of 39 shots, allowing goals by Paul Gardner and Walt McKechnie. Garrett had spent time at the Gardens also but with the Toronto Toros. Rick Ley, another former Bud, was also in the game for Hartford.

First and Last: Dave Keon (the long journey from Toronto to Hartford)

The Dave Keon rookie card appears in the 1961-62 Parkhurst NHL set as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had just come off a Calder Trophy winning performance the year before, scoring 20 goals in 70 games as a first year player. He also established himself as one of the league’s gentlemen, sitting just three minor penalties. He would win consecutive Lady Byng Trophies, 1961-62 and 1962-63.

Keon would add the final piece to his NHL trophy cabinet with a Conn Smythe win in 1966-67. It would the last of four times that Dave would hoist the Stanley Cup with Toronto. He came close in the WHA with the New England Whalers, going to the Avco World Trophy final in 1977-78 before bowing to the Winnipeg Jets.

Dave’s final hockey card as a player is included in the 1981-82 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets. It was his third and final season with the Hartford Whalers in the NHL. He missed just two games as a 41 year old but put in just eight goals and totaled 19 points.

From 1960-61 to 1981-82, Dave Keon appeared in 1,296 regular season and 92 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Maple Leafs and Whalers. In between, from 1975-76 to 1978-79, he played 301 regular season and 36 playoff games in the WHA with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, Indianapolis Racers and New England. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986.

Dave Keon NHL Career Stats

Regular Season

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1960-61	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	20	25	45	6
1961-62	Toronto Maple Leafs	64	26	35	61	2
1962-63	Toronto Maple Leafs	68	28	28	56	2
1963-64	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	23	37	60	6
1964-65	Toronto Maple Leafs	65	21	29	50	10
1965-66	Toronto Maple Leafs	69	24	30	54	4
1966-67	Toronto Maple Leafs	66	19	33	52	2
1967-68	Toronto Maple Leafs	67	11	37	48	4
1968-69	Toronto Maple Leafs	75	27	34	61	12
1969-70	Toronto Maple Leafs	72	32	30	62	6
1970-71	Toronto Maple Leafs	76	38	38	76	4
1971-72	Toronto Maple Leafs	72	18	30	48	4
1972-73	Toronto Maple Leafs	76	37	36	73	2
1973-74	Toronto Maple Leafs	74	25	28	53	7
1974-75	Toronto Maple Leafs	78	16	43	59	4
1979-80	Hartford Whalers	76	10	52	62	10
1980-81	Hartford Whalers	80	13	34	47	26
1981-82	Hartford Whalers	78	8	11	19	6
	Totals	1296	396	590	986	117

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1960-61	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	1	1	2	0
1961-62	Toronto Maple Leafs	12	5	3	8	0
1962-63	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	7	5	12	0
1963-64	Toronto Maple Leafs	14	7	2	9	2
1964-65	Toronto Maple Leafs	6	2	2	4	2
1965-66	Toronto Maple Leafs	4	0	2	2	0
1966-67	Toronto Maple Leafs	12	3	5	8	0
1967-68	Toronto Maple Leafs	0	0	0	0	0
1968-69	Toronto Maple Leafs	4	1	3	4	2
1969-70	Toronto Maple Leafs	0	0	0	0	0
1970-71	Toronto Maple Leafs	6	3	2	5	0
1971-72	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	2	3	5	0
1972-73	Toronto Maple Leafs	0	0	0	0	0
1973-74	Toronto Maple Leafs	4	1	2	3	0
1974-75	Toronto Maple Leafs	7	0	5	5	0
1979-80	Hartford Whalers	3	0	1	1	0
1980-81	Hartford Whalers	0	0	0	0	0
1981-82	Hartford Whalers	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	92	32	36	68	6

NHL Hockey Card Legends: Dave Keon [Video]

Dave Keon Hockey Card Collection

Dave Keon hockey cards that are featured at our Hockey Card Collection website.

1961-62 Parkhurst

1962-63 Parkhurst

1964-65 Topps

1965-66 Topps

1966-67 Topps

1968-69 O-Pee-Chee

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee

1970-71 O-Pee-Chee

1971-72 O-Pee-Chee

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee

1981-82 O-Pee-Chee