Rick Vaive, Leafs Goal King for another Season

Rick Vaive and his 54 goals in 1981/82 are STILL the most by a Maple Leafs player in a season. It will likely remain the high-water  mark for at least another season. When the NHL (and the world in general) was put on pause, Auston Matthews had potted 47 goals through 70 games. He was on pace for 55 goals to best Vaive's record by 1 goal. I wondered how many goals Vaive had produced after 70 team games in his record-setting campaign. Also, how would Matthew's 47 goals in 70 games rank amongst the top Leaf scorers ever? Below, are the numbers for the Leafs top single season goal scorers after the teams' 70th game of the season, in cases where the player had missed some games, their games total is shown.

Auston Matthews 19/20
70gp 47 Goals

Frank Mahovlich 60/61
70gp 48 Goals

Rick Vaive 81/82
67gp 43 Goals

Rick Vaive 82/83
68gp 47 Goals

Rick Vaive 83/84
67gp 48 Goals

Gary Leeman 89/90
70gp 46 Goals

Dave Andreychuk 93/94
69gp 49 Goals

There we have it. Matthews' 47 goals through 70 team games is the 3rd most in team history. In 1993/94, Dave Andreychuk scored 49 goals in the Leafs first 70 games and would finish with 53 goals, one shy of Vaive. In fact, during his record campaign, Vaive had a mere 43 goals through 70 team games, the following two seasons he had 47 then 48 goals at the same point.
Frank Mahovlich also scored 48 over the entire 70 game season in 1960/61. So, as much as Matthews was scoring, he was slightly behind the best pace ever by a Leaf.  Perhaps Matthews would have tailed off like Andreychuk did and score only 4 goals in his last 13 games or maybe he would have ripped off a 11 in his last 11 like Vaive in 1982. Either way, it would have been nice to see him have a shot at the record. Hopefully next year.



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