Rick Vaive is a former first-round draft pick of Vancouver. He was the centerpiece of the trade that landed us Tiger Williams and went on to have multiple 50-goal seasons with Toronto.

The following interview takes place a couple of weeks before his inaugural season with the Canucks.

One of the younger players that Harry Neale is expecting will be able to step into the Canucks’ starting line-up this season is right winger Rick Vaive, Vancouver’s number one draft pick. The six-foot-one 190-pound native of Ottawa already has made the jump from junior to pro-hockey, having played last season with Birmingham, where he led the Bulls in scoring with 26 goals and 33 assists. The rugged winger also led the WHA in penalty minutes.

Interview by Keith Hunt, CKWX Radio

Hunt: Rick, last year you were a rookie with Birmingham in the World Hockey Association, and now you find yourself in the same position with the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. Do you feel the same type of pressure this first year as you did the last one?
Vaive: Well, it is my rookie year in the NHL and it’s going to be just like last year, and you know, I’m really looking forward to it and sort of gettin’ psyched up for it and I believe it will present as much of a challenge to me as my first year did in the other league.

Hunt: Rick, I would think that one of the more positive aspects from a personal point of view about playing hockey in Vancouver is that you’re still living on a coast, although it is the west side of the country – compared with your hometown of Charlottetown. Do you feel that way about it?
Vaive: I don’t think it makes that much difference now because I’ve been away from home for the last three years – 2 years in the junior league in Quebec and the one year in Birmingham but it is kinda nice to be close to the water still.

Hunt: Tell me about the day you were drafted. Where were you and what were were you doing when you found out about it?
Vaive: I was home and it was about 20 minutes after the draft had started, maybe a little later, and I was just sitting at home waiting for a phone call, and finally my agent rang, and then a little later Mr. Milford called and talked to me, and I was really happy about it. When I first heard about it I was a bit surprised, but then I thought about it and realized what had happened and I was really happy.

Hunt: You are extremely capable in a couple of other sports – namely baseball and golf. Was it a tough decision for you to make up your mind as far as pursuing hockey as a career over the other two?
Vaive: No, no – I’ve wanted to be a hockey player all my life and although I enjoyed baseball and golf I was never as interested in the other two. So hockey was right from the start what I wanted to do.

Hunt: The day you were drafted and after Jake talked to you I imagine the phone started to ring off the hook. Did you not feel like getting out of the house?
Vaive: Oh yeah! There were quite a few phone calls. I stayed around most of the day, but eventually I was glad to get out and get away from the calls.

Hunt: One of the reasons the Canucks decided to draft you was the statistic that read 249 minutes in penalties, second in that department in the WHA last season. Does it bother you at all that that was one of the things upon which your selection in the draft was based?
Vaive: I don’t think so, uh, that’s my style – aggressive. I’m not going to change that, I’m going to play the same way. As far as penalty minutes go, I think that was a little high – even for my style of play. I don’t think I’ll get quite that high this year, but I’m just going to play the same way and I’m not going to change.

Hunt: People keep talking about the fact that you and Jere Gillis were linemates in Sherbrooke when you played junior. Have you looked down the road and thought it might not be a bad idea to resurrect that reunion?
Vaive: It would be great to play with Jere again. We had a pretty good year in junior. Jere’s last year, and, uh, ya know, it would be good to play with any of the Canucks left wingers, really, but it would be nice to get paired up with Jere again – if things work out that way.

Hunt: You made the adaptation very easily in the World Hockey Association in Birmingham. Do you see yourself having to go through that first-year thing again with the Canucks in the National Hockey League?
Vaive: There’s going to be some adjustment, but I don’t think it’ll be as much as there was jumping from junior to the World Hockey Association. But there definitely will be some adjustment I’ll have to make. But I don’t see it as being that major of a problem.

Hunt: Does the fact that the Vancouver Canucks are the youngest team in the NHL inspire more of a feeling of comradeship than might otherwise exist elsewhere?
Vaive: Well, it is really good when you get in on the ground floor with a young club, ya know, most of the guys are around your age and do the same things, common interests exist, and then you don’t feel as though you’re one of the babies, so it’s good to have that going for a club, I think.

Hunt: The players I’ve spoken with who’ve been working out on their own seem to believe that most of the team has gone to training camp in good shape. Is that what you’ve seen?
Vaive: Yeah, most of the guys seem to be ready, uh, I know, uh, Harry had told everybody to get out running and I would think that everybody did that so most of the guys showed up in pretty good shape.

Hunt: Is dryland training becoming more and more popular at pro hockey training camps?
Vaive: I don’t think, uh, that much dryland training, although maybe the players moreso during the summer on their own get a little more dryland into it, because most places don’t have the ice available all that much during the warmer months, so you have to do something to keep in shape – if you want to play, and most of the players have taken it upon themselves to do whatever they have to do to stay in shape during the summer.

Hunt: Have you had many problems, Rick, with injuries during your career?
Vaive: No, I haven’t really had any problems yet and hopefully won’t have any serious problems in the future, I hope it keeps going that way.

Hunt: Have you always played right wing?
Vaive: I’ve played centre a bit, usually I do play there a little bit during the season due to injuries or other things, but I’ve played a fair amount of centre.

Hunt: I was looking at your 249 minutes in penalties in Birmingham last season and I wondered just how many of those resulted from your reacting to a situation, rather than laying back a bit. Do you consider yourself a reactor or a non-reactor or maybe a bit of both?
Vaive: Well, I think that most of the penalties came from fights that involved things getting tight in the corners. I don’t think too many were for helping out a team-mate – a few I guess – but most were the result of guys giving me a shot, and you can’t let them do it, or else they’re going to get you the next time, as well. I guess that’s how most of the penalty minutes came about.

Hunt: How do you feel about the re-alignment of the NHL – particularly the Smythe division?
Vaive: Well, I think it’s going to be a good thing for hockey, in that moreso than ever since expansion, teams are going to be really competitive and I’m really looking forward to it, because it’s going to be tough to win every game you play. There won’t be as many ‘easy’ games as there have been.

Hunt: Are there any other members of your family who might be interested in following in the footsteps of the older brother?
Vaive: Well, I have two brothers and one sister, both the brothers play hockey, one’s in junior, the other’s in bantam but he’s not all that enthusiastic about hockey.

Hunt: Normally a lot of young guys who first hit the pro ranks find that the defensive side of their game needs some polishing. How do you feel about yourself in that regard?
Vaive: I don’t worry about it that much. I was fortunate in that the coaches I had almost all the way through the system leading to pro concentrated on that or at least emphasized that and I believe I don’t have to work on that aspect of my game moreso than any other, although I know a guy always has to be thinking about it all the time.

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Luckily for him, he was better at scoring goals than doing interviews.