No hate – he was a Calder winner and 4 time cup champion with 15 years on the Leafs and is 3rd all time points and 4th all time goals but I remember when that was announced, I was kind of surprised as I grew up idolizing and reading about older players and famous Leafs and he never came up as much as like the 90s guys or Frank or Borje or Sittler or Armstrong or Bower.
Was this just a publicity thing or why exactly did he make #1 on that list?
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He didn’t come up because he was estranged from the franchise for years. He is absolutely in that tier of players and frankly the very top subtier of those guys without question.
You literally just said it.
Calder winner
4 time cup champion
Top 3-4 in points, goals, assists
Who tops that in this franchise?
Only “knock” on him is that majority of fans wouldn’t remember his days because be played in the 60s and 70s.
Any fan under the age of 45 as of 2016 wouldn’t have even remembered (if they were even alive) to see him play.
There’s a lot of drama around Keon and his estrangement from the organization through the Ballard years.
But if you want to keep it simple, none of the guys above him in points or goals won anything while playing for the Leafs.
He’s the most productive Cup winner the Leafs have ever had, and he won 4. He was also legendary for backchecking and playing a two-way game.
Basically, imagine if Doug Gilmour had played for the Leafs for over a decade, worn the C for half that time, and won multiple cups. That’s Keon.
He was my 77 year old dad’s favourite player.
1967 Conn Smythe Winner as well.
My 69 year old dads favourite player, you just had to be there
No other great even stayed as long as Keon that I can think of. Ballard drove away any all time great player and other than that the only options are Sundin and Matthews and they haven’t won anything
Because Teeder Kennedy was dead and most if not all the voters on the GLOAT committee were people who had no living memory of ever having seen him play.
Yes, I know Kennedy finished 3rd in the voting anyway. But he was the heart and soul of the 1945-51 dynasty, which won 5 Cups yet has never received as much recognition or appreciation as the 1962-67 dynasty. (Undoubtedly because the latter group was on TV every Saturday night and the guys from the ’40s were not.)
For what it’s worth, several years ago a group of hockey historians tried to determine who would have won the playoff MVP award each year if it had existed prior to 1965. They decided that Kennedy would have won three.
My dad’s license plate is 14. Literally two digits. Dave Keon is goated.
A good modern comparison to Dave Keon would be Patrice Bergeron. The Selke didn’t exist in his day, but he would have won multiple trophies if it did. His best offensive season era adjusted would have netted him over 90 points, and he was the team’s shutdown centre.
My father would be 81 if he were alive today and Keon was his favourite player followed by Sittler, my grandfathers favourite player was Ted Kennedy followed by Keon..I skipped Sittler and went straight to Wendel Clark.
For those of us who seen him play know why. He was just a great all round player.
4 Cups
In those days Keon was a god, not like what Marner thinks he was lol. He was my favourite player and seen him play at the Gardens. Even had his mini stick. Keon is Leaf royalty.
He played his heart out every game and showed up in the playoffs.
The best factoid about Keon that encapsulates his career is this one from Wikipedia .
In the 1967 Cup Final, he shut down Jean Béliveau, the star centreman of the Montreal Canadiens, in the last two games of the series and was voted the most valuable player of the playoffs, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. Keon’s eight points are the fewest ever by a non-goalie Conn Smythe winner, and he remains the only Leaf to have won the trophy named for the former owner of the club.
My favourite memory is him ragging the puck for 33 seconds on the penalty kill in the ‘67 final. Classic Keon.
Charlie Conacher, Ted Kennedy, and Syl Apps were all better.
He could stick handle in a phone booth.
4 time cup champion vs no time cup champion for most others.
My dad’s fav. Ballard robbed us if his memory.
Harold Ballard was a piece of shit. Leafs fans should have annual tailgate parties on April 11 (the day he died) in part to educate the younger fans just how much Ballard royally fucked and desecrated the organization.
Cup
In his prime in the mid-1960s, he was the fastest skater in the NHL, along with Henri Richard and Kenny Wharram.