Dave Keon David Michael Keon ( born March 22 , 1940 in Noranda , Quebec ) , is a retired Canadian professional Centre . He played professionally from 1960 to 1982 , including 15 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs , and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986 . 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 . In February 1957 , he was named to the league ' s eastern all - star team and was picked by NHL scouts as the top prospect in the league . Keon was selected as the league ' s rookie of the year , finishing second in scoring , and his team won the league championship . He played some games that season for the Junior A St . Michael ' s Majors , and moved to that club full - time for the 1957 – 58 season . Keon played for St . Mike ' s through the end of the 1960 season , when he turned professional and joined the Sudbury Wolves of the Eastern Professional Hockey League for four playoff games . They would be the only games he would ever play in the minor pro leagues . Keon joined the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League for the 1960 – 61 season , winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league ' s top rookie with 20 goals and 45 points in his first season . It was his first of six consecutive 20 - goal seasons . In his second year in the NHL , Keon was named a second team all - star and won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy as most gentlemanly player , taking only one minor penalty through the entire season . He repeated as Lady Byng winner in 1962 – 63 , again taking only a single minor penalty all year . He was the Leafs ' leading scorer in the 1963 – 64 , 1966 – 67 and 1969 – 70 seasons , and the team ' s top goal scorer in 1970 – 71 and 1972 – 73 . Keon was one of the fastest skaters in the NHL , and one of the best defensive forwards of his era . He would usually play against the opposing team ' s top centre , and developed a reputation for neutralizing some of the league ' s top scorers . In 1970 – 71 , he scored eight shorthanded goals , setting an NHL record . Keon won four Stanley Cup s with the Leafs , playing on the Cup - winning teams of 1961 – 62 , 1962 – 63 , 1963 – 64 , and 1966 – 67 . In the 1967 Cup final , he shut down Jean Béliveau , the star centreman of the Montreal Canadiens , in the final two games and was voted the most valuable player of the playoffs , winning the Conn Smythe Trophy . To this day , he so far remains the only Leaf ever to have won the trophy named for the former owner of the club . He was named team captain on October 31 , 1969 , succeeding George Armstrong who was said to be retiring from hockey . Armstrong returned to the Leafs two weeks later and played for another two seasons , but Keon remained captain and would wear the " C " through the rest of his years with the Leafs . Keon hoped to make Team Canada for the 1972 Summit Series , but was coming off one of the worst years of his career , finishing the 1971 – 72 season with his lowest points - per - game average since his rookie year . He wasn ' t selected for Team Canada , but the Ottawa Nationals of the World Hockey Association made a strong effort to sign Keon , whom they had placed on their negotiation list earlier that year . Harold Ballard , who had become the Leafs ' majority owner in March 1972 , said that Keon didn ' t provide the leadership the team needed during the previous season and was refusing to give Keon a big 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 deal fell apart . Just before training camp . Keon signed a three - year deal with the Leafs , and rebounded strongly in 1972 – 73 , scoring 37 goals . On November 22 , 1972 he scored his 297th goal as a Leaf , passing Armstrong and Frank Mahovlich to become the team ' s all - time leading goal scorer . Early into the 1974 – 75 season , Ballard publicly blasted Keon , saying that the team wasn ' t getting good leadership from its captain and vowing never again to agree to a no - trade clause in a contract , as he had with Keon . When Keon ' s contract expired at the end of the season , Ballard made it clear that there was no place for him on the Leafs . The Leafs believed they had some strong young prospects at centre who needed more ice time , and Keon was again asking for a contract 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 signing him would have been required to provide compensation to the Leafs . Ballard set the compensation price so high that other teams shied away from signing him , even though the Leafs had no intention of keeping him . In effect , Ballard had blocked Keon from going to another NHL team . In August 1975 , with the Leafs still controlling his NHL rights , Keon jumped to the World Hockey Association , signing a deal with the Minnesota Fighting Saints reportedly worth $ 300 , 000 over two seasons . The head coach of the Saints was Harry Neale , an old friend of Keon ' s . The team , and Keon , played well , but struggled badly financially . With 21 games left in the season , the team folded . Keon was expected to return to the NHL and wasn ' t included in the dispersal sale of Saints players to other WHA teams . The NHL ' s New York Islanders wanted Keon , but needed to negotiate a deal for his NHL rights with the Leafs . Again , the Leafs ' asking price ( said to have been a first - round draft pick ) was too high , and a disappointed Keon signed with the WHA ' s Indianapolis Racers in March 1976 . The Fighting Saints were revived for the start of the WHA ' s 1976 – 77 season , and Keon was traded back to Minnesota , but the team folded for good half - way through the season ( with Keon as its leading scorer ) . Keon was briefly the property of the Edmonton Oilers who immediately traded him to the New England Whalers in January 1977 . He would remain with the team through the rest of his career . In the 1977 – 78 season , Keon was joined on the Whalers by Gordie Howe , the team ' s leading scorer , despite turning 50 before the end of the season . Keon returned to the NHL in 1979 when the renamed Hartford Whalers became one of four WHA teams to join the NHL . Bobby Hull joined the Whalers that season , with Keon , Howe , and Hull sometimes playing as a forward line . Howe and Hull retired at the end of the season , leaving Keon as the oldest player in the NHL . Keon played two more seasons with the Whalers and announced his retirement on June 30 , 1982 at age 42 . Retirement . Following his retirement from hockey , Keon moved to Florida and worked in real estate for several years . Bitter over his treatment by Ballard and the Leafs , Keon refused for many years to have any relationship with the Leafs organization , even after Ballard ' s death and after the club changed ownership several times . Other Leaf players who clashed with Ballard ' s management did reconcile , most notably Keon ' s successor as club captain , Darryl Sittler , who accepted an invitation from GM Cliff Fletcher to return as a consultant . Keon turned down several offers of reconciliation from the team , including an invitation to the closing ceremony for Maple Leaf Gardens in 1999 and a proposed ceremony to honour his number . Besides blaming Ballard , Keon insisted that he would not have anything to do with the club unless it changes its policy of only " honouring " numbers of former star players instead of retiring them . The current policy of the Leafs is to only retire the numbers of players who suffered a career - ending accident while a member of the team . On March 22 , 1991 , with the Leafs under new management after Ballard ' s death , Keon played on a team of Leaf all - stars against their counterparts from the Montreal Canadiens in an old - timers game at Maple Leaf Gardens called " Legends ' Night in Canada " . But in January 2007 , the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Keon would attend a pre - game ceremony to honour its 1967 Stanley Cup winning team . Keon was one of several members of the 1967 team to appear on - ice at the Air Canada Centre before the Leafs ' game on February 17 , 2007 — the 80th anniversary of first game played by the Toronto franchise after being renamed the Maple Leafs in 1927 . Keon was introduced to the crowd second last , just prior to 1967 captain George Armstrong , and received a long standing ovation . Awards and honours . In 1998 , Keon was ranked number 69 on " The Hockey News " ' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players . The Aréna Dave Keon in Noranda , Quebec is named in his honor .