Bob Nevin: NHL Workhorse And Longtime Captain Of The N.Y. Rangers

Bob Nevin starred with the Toronto Marlboros in junior before finding himself among the National Hockey League’s top offensive players in his first full season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Later, Nevin would win two Stanley Cup championships with the Maple Leafs before heading to the Rangers.

Nevin’s hockey card timeline has some twists. He was inexplicably excluded from the 1973-74 Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets but was included in the 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee WHA set despite playing just 13 games with the Edmonton Oilers that season, his last action in pro hockey.

Junior and Minor Pro

NHL Career

Hockey Card Collection

Rookie Card

Career Stats

Bob Nevin – Junior and Minor Pro

Bob Nevin played four seasons of junior hockey with the Toronto Marlboros from 1954-55 to 1957-58. In his second season, Nevin finished sixth on the OHA Junior A league with 34 goals. Toronto won the OHL championship, beating the Barrie Flyers in the finals. Next up was a Richardson Cup championship with a win over the Montreal Junior Canadiens. Finally, the Marlboros won the Memorial Cup with a win over the Regina Pats.

In 1956-57, Nevin was fourth with 45 goals and tied for fourth in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy with 74 points.

In his final season, Bob finished ninth with 32 goals, sixth with 39 assists and eighth with 71 points. The Marlboros finished just fourth in the eight team league with a .500 record. Yet, Toronto won the Robertson Cup championship, downing the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in the finals. They then fell to the Ottawa-Hull Canadiens in the Richardson Cup finals.

Nevin’s first pro hockey game came in 1956-57, appearing in a single match with the Rochester Americans in the AHL. He would have an explosive season with the Amerks in 1959-60 before solidifying his place as a regular in the NHL.

In that 1959-60 season, Bob scored 32 and assisted on 42 for 74 points in 71 regular season games. Nevin placed seventh in the American Hockey League in goal scoring and had the tenth highest point total. Rochester reached the Calder Cup finals before bowing to the Springfield Indians.

Bob Nevin – NHL

Bob Nevin played in the National Hockey League from 1957-58 to 1975-76 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings. Over that time, he played in 1,128 regular season games, scoring 307 goals and assisting on 419 for 726 points.

Bob Nevin Collection

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Nevin added 34 points in 84 games. He was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams with Toronto, 1961-62 and 1962-63. He missed out on a third in 1963-64, traded to the Rangers midseason.

His first NHL action came in 1957-58 while still a junior, he appeared in four games with the Maple Leafs. In 1958-59, he played two more NHL games with Toronto while splitting the rest of the season with Rochester in the AHL and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QHL.

In 1960-61, Bob played his first full season in the National Hockey League and didn’t disappoint. He finished tenth in the league with 37 assists.

In eight seasons, Nevin scored 20 or more goals. He topped out with a personal best of 31 goals in two different seasons. He first accomplished the feat with the Rangers in 1968-69 and did it again with the Kings in 1974-75.

On February 22, 1964, Bob was involved in a blockbuster trade between the Rangers and Maple Leafs. Nevin went to New York with Dick Duff, Bill Collins, Arnie Brown and Rod Seiling. Going to Toronto was Don McKenney and Andy Bathgate.

Bob went on to serve as team captain with the Rangers from 1965-66 to 1970-71. He replaced Camille Henry and was replaced by Vic Hadfield. His captaincy came to an end after the Rangers sent him to Minnesota on May 25, 1971 for a player to be named later. That player turned out to be Bobby Rousseau.

With the Rangers in 1965-66, Nevin finished tied for seventh in the NHL with 29 goals. He equaled the total of two Hockey Hall of Fame legends, Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings and Jean Beliveau of the Montreal Canadiens. He also finished eighth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 62 points.

At the end of his career, Nevin jumped to the World Hockey Association. He joined the Edmonton Oilers at the start of the 1976-77 WHA season but played just 13 games. His career ended as a result of a broken collarbone.

Bob Nevin – Rookie Card

The Bob Nevin rookie card appears as number 13 in the 1958-59 Parkhurst NHL hockey card set. He would only play two games with the Maple Leafs that season and would not appear in the NHL again until 1959-60.

As a result, his next hockey card would not come until the 1961-62 Parkhurst set. Nevin’s final card was included in the 1976-77 O-Pee-Chee WHA set as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. He is shown wearing a Los Angeles Kings jersey.

For some reason, Nevin was excluded from the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets. He played 66 games for the North Stars in 1972-73 and didn’t miss a game with the Kings in 1973-74.

Often, the back of his hockey cards makes some reference to Bob being one of the only hockey players to play with contact lenses. One card even notes there was a delay in a game because they fell out on the ice and there was a search for them. Optometry has come a long, long way.

Bob Nevin Career Stats

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1954-55	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	3	0	0	0	0
1955-56	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	48	34	31	65	34
1956-57	Rochester Americans	AHL	1	0	0	0	0
1956-57	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	51	45	29	74	52
1957-58	Rochester Americans	AHL	1	0	2	2	2
1957-58	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	50	32	39	71	29
1957-58	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	4	0	0	0	0
1958-59	Rochester Americans	AHL	21	3	3	6	6
1958-59	Chicoutimi Sagueneens	QHL	35	16	8	24	12
1958-59	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	2	0	0	0	2
1959-60	Rochester Americans	AHL	71	32	42	74	10
1960-61	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	68	21	37	58	13
1961-62	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	69	15	30	45	10
1962-63	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	58	12	21	33	4
1963-64	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	49	7	12	19	26
1963-64	New York Rangers	NHL	14	5	4	9	9
1964-65	New York Rangers	NHL	64	16	14	30	28
1965-66	New York Rangers	NHL	69	29	33	62	10
1966-67	New York Rangers	NHL	67	20	24	44	6
1967-68	New York Rangers	NHL	74	28	30	58	20
1968-69	New York Rangers	NHL	71	31	25	56	14
1969-70	New York Rangers	NHL	68	18	19	37	8
1970-71	New York Rangers	NHL	78	21	25	46	10
1971-72	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	72	15	19	34	6
1972-73	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	66	5	13	18	0
1973-74	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	78	20	30	50	12
1974-75	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	80	31	41	72	19
1975-76	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	77	13	42	55	14
1976-77	Edmonton Oilers	WHA	13	3	2	5	0
	NHL Totals		1128	307	419	726	211
	WHA Totals		13	3	2	5	0