Keith McCreary

Vernon Keith McCreary (June 19, 1940 – December 9, 2003) was a Canadian left winger in the National Hockey League who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Atlanta Flames.

Playing career

As property of the Montreal Canadiens, McCreary spent seven years in the minor league system, only promoted for a single playoff game in 1962 and 9 games during the 1964–65 season. During this time, he was a top scorer for the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.

He became an NHL regular with the Pittsburgh Penguins following the 1967 NHL Expansion. In 1972, he was claimed by the Atlanta Flames in the Expansion Draft and was designated the franchise's first captain. McCreary retired following the 1974–75 season after 532 NHL games. He recorded a total of 131 goals and 116 assists during his NHL career.

McCreary played for the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Flames, Hershey Bears, Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, and Cleveland Barons.

His brother, Bill McCreary Sr., was also an NHL left winger.

Life and retirement McCreary is the brother of Bill McCreary Sr., the uncle of Bill McCreary Jr. and Bob Attwell, and the brother-in-law of Ron Attwell.

He was elected as Regional councillor for Caledon, Ontario in 1978, eventually losing in the 1988 election against Carol Seglins, who later became Mayor of Caledon. He stood for consideration in 1991 as a candidate for the appointed role of Regional Chair. Emil Kolb won the position.

McCreary joined the NHL Alumni Association and was the Association's chairman. He died after a long bout with cancer at the age of 63. He is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bolton, Ontario.

His Atlanta Flames jersey is on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1956–57 Peterboro T.P.T's OHA 22 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1959–60 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1960–61 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 61 19 21 40 35 14 4 2 6 15 1961–62 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 64 30 36 66 48 12 5 8 13 2 1961–62 Montreal Canadiens NHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 1962–63 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens EPHL 69 27 34 61 44 3 1 1 2 0 1963–64 Hershey Bears AHL 66 25 19 44 21 6 2 4 6 2 1964–65 Hershey Bears AHL 46 16 18 34 36 14 0 7 7 24 1964–65 Montreal Canadiens NHL 9 0 3 3 4 — — — — — 1965–66 Cleveland Barons AHL 66 18 24 42 42 2 5 4 9 8 1966–67 Cleveland Barons AHL 70 28 29 57 50 5 1 2 3 0 1967–68 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 14 12 26 44 — — — — — 1968–69 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 25 23 48 42 — — — — — 1969–70 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 60 18 8 26 67 10 0 4 4 4 1970–71 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 59 21 12 33 24 — — — — — 1971–72 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 33 4 4 8 22 1 0 0 0 2 1972–73 Atlanta Flames NHL 77 20 21 41 21 — — — — — 1973–74 Atlanta Flames NHL 76 18 19 37 62 4 0 0 0 0 1974–75 Atlanta Flames NHL 78 11 10 21 8 — — — — — NHL totals 532 131 112 243 294 16 0 4 4 6

Awards EPHL First All-Star Team (1962) EPHL Second All-Star Team (1963) Inducted into the Caledon Sports Hall of Fame (2025)

Transactions June 6, 1967 – Claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Montreal Canadiens in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. June 6, 1972 – Claimed by the Atlanta Flames from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft.