#122 - Dave Keon

Dave Keon (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #122)

Adjusted Stats

1960-1961   Tor        82 GP   24 goals   30 assists   54 points     0.66 PPG
1961-1962   Tor*      75 GP   31 goals   42 assists   73 points     0.97 PPG
1962-1963   Tor*      80 GP   34 goals   34 assists   68 points     0.85 PPG
1963-1964   Tor*      82 GP   30 goals   48 assists   78 points     0.95 PPG
1964-1965   Tor        76 GP   26 goals   36 assists   63 points     0.82 PPG
1965-1966   Tor        81 GP   28 goals   36 assists   64 points     0.79 PPG
1966-1967   Tor*      77 GP   23 goals   40 assists   63 points     0.81 PPG
1967-1968   Tor        74 GP   13 goals   45 assists   59 points     0.79 PPG
1968-1969   Tor        81 GP   30 goals   38 assists   68 points     0.84 PPG
1969-1970   Tor        78 GP   37 goals   34 assists   71 points     0.91 PPG
1970-1971   Tor        80 GP   39 goals   39 assists   79 points     0.99 PPG
1971-1972   Tor        76 GP   19 goals   32 assists   51 points     0.67 PPG
1972-1973   Tor        80 GP   37 goals   36 assists   72 points     0.90 PPG
1973-1974   Tor        78 GP   25 goals   28 assists   54 points     0.69 PPG
1974-1975   Tor        80 GP   15 goals   40 assists   54 points     0.68 PPG
1979-1980   Hfd        78 GP   9 goals     47 assists   56 points     0.71 PPG
1980-1981   Hfd        82 GP   11 goals   28 assists   39 points     0.47 PPG
1981-1982   Hfd        80 GP   6 goals     9 assists     15 points     0.19 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1960-1961   Tor         5 GP    1 goal       1 assist       2 points      0.45 PPG
1961-1962   Tor*       12 GP  5 goals      3 assists     8 points      0.66 PPG
1962-1963   Tor*       10 GP  7 goals      5 assists     12 points    1.19 PPG
1963-1964   Tor*       14 GP  7 goals      2 assists     9 points      0.68 PPG
1964-1965   Tor         6 GP    2 goals      2 assists     4 points      0.73 PPG
1965-1966   Tor         4 GP    0 goals      2 assists     2 points      0.53 PPG
1966-1967   Tor*       12 GP  3 goals      5 assists     8 points      0.69 PPG
1968-1969   Tor         4 GP    1 goal        3 assists     4 points     0.99 PPG
1970-1971   Tor         6 GP    3 goals      2 assists     5 points      0.77 PPG
1971-1972   Tor         5 GP    2 goals      3 assists     5 points     0.93 PPG
1973-1974   Tor         4 GP    1 goal        2 assists     3 points     0.73 PPG
1974-1975   Tor         7 GP    0 goals      5 assists     5 points      0.65 PPG
1979-1980   Hfd         3 GP    0 goals      1 assist      1 point       0.28 PPG

Career - 1420 GP, 437 goals, 642 assists, 1081 points, 0.76 PPG
Career-Highs - 39 goals (70-71); 48 assists (63-64); 79 points (70-71); 0.99 PPG (70-71)
Avg. (18 seasons) - 79 GP, 24 goals, 36 assists, 60 points, 0.76 PPG
Peak Avg. (63-71) - 79 GP, 28 goals, 40 assists, 68 points, 0.87 PPG, 2 Cups

Playoff Career - 92 GP, 32 goals, 36 assists, 68 points, 0.74 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 7 goals (62-63); 5 assists (74-75); 12 points (62-63); 1.19 PPG (62-63)

Accolades - 2 Lady Byngs, Calder, Conn Smythe
All-Star Teams - 2-time 2nd-team
4-time Stanley Cup Champion

Dave Keon's offensive numbers wouldn't appear to make him deserving of a spot on the Pyramid. Here is a center who never topped 80 points or a point-a-game. Remarkably durable, Keon played in 18 seasons without ever missing more than eight games in a season, yet he was consistently, unspectacularly in the 60-70 point range. Is this a case of a Maple Leaf legend being overrated?

In Keon's case, no. We all know that Bob Gainey was a superb defensive forward, but Keon doesn't quite get his due amongst today's generation of hockey fans. He was his era's defensive specialist, but he still managed to pot 30 goals and 70 points every season. Those who saw the Maple Leafs during the 1960s speak fondly of Mahovlich, of course, and Tim Horton, but it is Keon who is often referred to as the team's best player, a speedster with a deadly backhand who was always pitted against the opposition's best centre, and usually stifled them.

Here's a good indication of Keon's two-way value: in 1967 (the last year the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup, in case you didn't know), Keon won the Conn Smythe award despite having a mere eight points in twelve playoff games. That is the lowest point total of any non-goaltender to win the Conn Smythe. Why did Keon deserve it? Because he shut down the great Jean Beliveau in the Cup finals, leading an aging Toronto team to hockey's pinnacle for one last time.

As the Leafs got more mediocre, Keon's play remained consistent. He made the second all-star team in 1971 after potting career highs in goals and points. Unfortunately for Keon, he followed that up with a lackluster 1972 season that may have cost him the final spot on the Team Canada roster for the '72 Summit Series. Even though he bounced back, Keon began to grow progressively more sour with Maple Leafs' management, specifically their notoriously cantankerous owner Harold Ballard. He left the NHL to play in the WHA for four seasons, before eventually returning for a retirement stint with the Hartford Whalers.

Perhaps because Keon's tenure with the Maple Leafs ended so badly, he's rarely mentioned in the same revered breath as more modern Leaf staples like Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming and Doug Gilmour. It's a shame though, because Keon was the team's most complete forward during the 1960s, even if he wasn't as dynamic a scorer as Mahovlich. Keon eventually found it within him to forgive the Maple Leafs' organization and return to the Air Canada Centre during the celebration of the 1967 championship team's 40th anniversary. He was given one of the longest ovations during that ceremony...Maple Leaf fans may not get much right, but they knew that Keon should be welcomed back and finally treated with the respect his career had earned.