Catch 22: My battles, in hockey and in life - The Untold Story of Toronto Maple Leafs Legend Rick Vaive - Rick Vaive with Scott morrison
Reviewed by Christine Dimoff
Growing up a Leaf fan in the 80s wasn’t much fun. I was only 13 or 14 years old and there weren’t many girls that were into watching hockey. For me the game was exciting and fun to watch, and like all young fans, normally you have a favourite player who is a star on the team. That star for me was Rick Vaive.
In his book “Catch 22” Vaive is really open about everything from being traded to Toronto, how he got the captaincy, the various trades that happened while he was with the Leafs, and the carousel of coaches he had at the start of his career. He also talks about more personal issues, like dealing with his fear of flying and battling alcoholism.
The book brought back a lot of memories that I had forgotten and had many stories that I didn’t even know happened. One thing I was reminded of was that Vaive was named Leaf captain after another former captain, Darryl Sittler was traded, and at 22 years old Vaive became the youngest player to wear the ‘C’ in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history. He called it a “Catch 22” because he didn’t feel that he was ready to be a captain, but he thought that if he didn’t accept it he would be traded. The team owner at the time was Harold Ballard and we all know that Pal Hal was always highly involved in the team’s business and generally not in a good way!
The same year that Vaive was named captain he scored 50 goals! He is the first Leaf to ever hit this elusive mark. I remember that season in 1981-82 because the team wasn’t very good and the only thing that kept us fans interested was Vaive’s quest for 50 goals! When he did score #50 on March 24, 1982 vs. the St. Louis Blues, I remember I was watching the game at home and eating an orange. As the puck crossed the goal line, in all my excitement, I threw all the orange peels up in the air! It really was the most, and maybe the only, exciting moment of that season. The Leafs missed the playoffs that year for the first time since 1972-73, but Vaive would go on to score 50 or more goals for 3 consecutive seasons.
Speaking of 50 goal seasons, Vaive has been one of the biggest supporters of current Leaf superstar Auston Matthews, who now holds the franchise record for most goals in the regular season with 60. While he hoped that Matthews would break his record of 54 goals, Vaive said he will always take pride in being the first Leaf to hit the 50 goal mark..
Another story from the book that brought back some memories for me was Draft Day, June 15, 1985. That was the first time the Leafs had the 1st overall pick in the NHL draft. It was funny because in the book Vaive says that he just hoped that the Leafs wouldn’t screw it up and that’s exactly what LeafsNation was thinking at the time! Thankfully, they didn’t, as the Leafs selected Wendel Clark with the 1st pick.
There are many other great hockey stories from Vaive’s days as a Leaf, and later being traded to Chicago, as well as his final NHL stop as a player with the Buffalo Sabres. There is even a story involving Vaive and current Leafs President Brendan Shanahan! I never heard about it before reading “Catch 22”, so I’ll leave it for you to enjoy when reading the book.
After his playing career, something I didn’t know much about was Vaive’s coaching career. He was the coach of the ECHL Champion South Carolina Stingrays in 1996-97 and later was the head coach of the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate St. John Flames. He coached some notable players including Martin Biron, Jean-Sebastian Giguere and Martin, St. Louis. He also had experiences with some current and former NHL coaches like Jared Bednar and John Tortorella.
If you grew up a Leafs fan in the 80s you can relate to this decade of Leafs history and “Catch 22” is a must read! Rick Vaive spoke his truth, which I think readers will appreciate. I know I did because it showed the pride, honour and courage of a former Leaf captain, who loved being a Leaf.