Neilson left huge impact on hockey

WebPosted Sun Jun 29 12:04:26 2003

CBC SPORTS ONLINE - They called him "Rog."

(Rewritten Without Permission)

Roger Neilson sports his Hall of Fame ring at his induction ceremony last year.

Roger Neilson was known as a lot of things during his 25-year career in the NHL. Innovator. A rebel. A great hockey mind.

But to most people, he was simply a good friend who cared about hockey and his players.

It's hard not to find someone in the hockey community who was touched in some way by Neilson's affection and good-natured humour. And that's why the tributes and eulogies flowed in on Saturday when the hockey community learned this beloved coach finally succumbed after a long battle with cancer.

Ottawa Senators general manager John Muckler fought back tears when asked for a comment about his assistant coach on Saturday.

"He just seemed to make everybody a little brighter when he was around. I think he was wonderful for hockey, innovative, a good friend and I'm just happy I had the pleasure of meeting him."

It seemed that everyone had something to good to say about Neilson.

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"He was an individual we can all get inspired by," said Florida Panthers head coach Mike Keenan. "He had such a high level of respect for human beings. He had a strong faith in his religion and he observed those principles on a daily basis.

"He was able to see the goodness in all of us."

If one wanted any proof of how much he was loved by the hockey community, one just needed to look at a tribute held in his honour last year.

Nearly 1,200 people filled the Metro Convention Centre for video tributes, speeches and presentations.

A deeply religious man, Neilson was not one for a lot of attention. When he learned that he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, he modestly said he didn't know why he was chosen.

He never won the Stanley Cup, usually a prerequisite for any coach to being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He's coached his share of good and bad teams.

Longevity with a particular team wasn't his strong suit either. He never stuck around with a team for more than four years.

While his statistics alone didn't warrant a trip to the Hall of Fame, they don't reveal the long-lasting impact Neilson had on the game.

Every team in the NHL has a video co-ordinator thanks to Neilson. He became known as Captain Video for becoming the first head coach to use videotape as a coaching tool.

There's probably nobody in NHL history that has instigated more changes to the hockey rulebook. Neilson ensured he had an intimate knowledge of the hockey rulebook and would exploit every loophole to his team's advantage.

While coaching the major junior Peterborough Petes, he came up the idea of pulling the goaltender when his team faced a penalty shot and replacing him with a defenceman.

As soon as the opposing player touched the puck, the defenceman would charge out of his net.

"We had six (penalty shots) one year and Ron Stackhouse stopped them all," said Neilson once.

Now a team has to have a goalie in net for a penalty shot.

Neilson never played hockey professionally, but was a keen student of the game and his coaching techniques soon became a staple of every NHL bench boss. In addition to showing the benefits of videotape, he was also the first to bring off-season conditioning to the league.

Before Neilson showed up, NHL players usually got into shape during training camp.

Now, every player in the league has a fitness regime he has to follow during the summer.

Yes, Neilson's influence in the game is widespread. And the above examples are just the tip of the iceberg.

Not only has he had the opportunity to touch a lot of people as a scout or coach with 12 different NHL organizations, Neilson has passed down his knowledge and love of the game to the grassroots level.

Neilson operated both a hockey school and coaching clinic that are considered among the best in the world.

"He's touched a lot of players," Toronto Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn once said. "He's had a very positive influence on those people and a lot of them have gone on to have great careers.

"It's what a teacher does. As a builder, that's kind of descriptive. Roger has done that. He's bumped into a lot of people. He's been in so many places, he's had to ability to touch a lot of people."

To hockey fans, he'll probably be best remembered for the Towel Incident.

Back in 1982, behind the bench of the Vancouver Canucks, Neilson staged his most visual rebellion against the establishment when he placed on a towel on a stick and lofted it high in the air in mock surrender in a conference final playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

He was making a statement against referee Bob Myers calling too many penalties against his team.

He got kicked out of the game, but the incident became a rallying point for the Canucks and when they returned to Vancouver everybody was waving a white towel.

The Canucks went on to win the series, but lost in the Stanley Cup final to the New York Islanders.

Maple Leafs fans will remember when Harold Ballard fired Neilson but was unable to find a replacement so the eccentric owner hired him back.

From fans to friends, everyone has their favourite Roger story.

He might have had a sharp hockey mind, but Roger was absent-minded outside of work, which has given everyone around him plenty of stories to share.

From leaving work only in socked feet to driving down the wrong way on a one-way street, Roger always had someone laughing with his blunders.

That's why there were more smiles than tears when the announcement of Roger's passing came down on Saturday; everyone wanted to remember of the good times they had with the man with a heart of gold.

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