This Day in Hockey History – August 15, 1989 – Neilson’s Knack

Roger Neilson began his professional coaching career in 1966 when he stepped behind the bench of the Peterborough Petes, a major junior team in the Ontario Hockey League. It was during his years with the Petes that he honed his skills as teacher. He had attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute and then went on to McMaster University, where, as a student, he began coaching. He graduated with a physical education degree in hockey and baseball.

Over the years, Neilson’s knack for teaching and developing young players would earn him coaching position after coaching position—most of them in the National Hockey League.

On August 15, 1989, the New York Rangers signed Neilson to a multi-year contract as the 25th Head Coach in the Rangers franchise. He was also the third coach in six months with the Rangers. General Manager Phil Esposito had fired head coach Michel Bergeron on April 1, with just two games remaining in the regular season. Esposito elected to coach the Rangers through the remainder and into the playoffs. The playoffs were short lived as the Pittsburgh Penguins swept the Rangers in the first round. The sweep signaled the end of the season for the Rangers and the end of Esposito’s jobs as head coach and general manager. Neil Smith was put in as the new general manager July 1, 1989 and he hired Neilson.

“He knows how to bring out the best in rookies and young players. He’s an innovator, a great teacher and he’s perfect for the New York Rangers at this time,” Smith said.

Innovation sums up Neilson for sure. Today every NHL team relies on videotape—okay, so now it’s all digital—both in preparation for taking on other teams as well as for analyzing their own play. It was Neilson who started the use of videotape to analyze other teams—earning him the nickname of “Captain Video.” He was also the first to use microphone headsets when communicating with his assistant coaches.

Some of his innovations were the result of having studied the rule book always with the idea of looking for loopholes to give his team the edge. Some of those loopholes were closed as a result of Neilson’s methods for taking advantage. For instance, when his team was in a 5-on-3 penalty kill in the last minute of a particular game, he sent too many men out on the ice every ten seconds knowing that no additional penalties could be served. When he did so, the referees would stop play, and there would be a faceoff which gave his defensemen a bit of a break. That tactic along with other deliberate acts to delay the game, such as the net being intentionally dislodge within the last two minutes of regulation or in overtime now awards the opposition a penalty shot.

Neilson substituted a defenseman for his goaltender on a penalty shot, knowing the defenseman could rush the attacker—thus cutting down the angle of the shot. The rule was changed to insist that a goaltender be in net, and that the goaltender couldn’t leave his crease until the opposition player had touched the puck. Neilson was clever in many such ways, with rule changes reflecting a closing of those loopholes.

Throughout his coaching career, Neilson coached seven NHL teams as bench boss: Toronto Maple Leafs (1977-1979); Buffalo Sabres (1980-81 season); Vancouver Canucks (March 1982-January 1984); Los Angeles Kings (February – April 1984); New York Rangers (1989-January 1993); Florida Panthers (1993-1995); Philadelphia Flyers (March 1998-2000).

During Neilson’s time behind the bench in New York, he managed to take the team to the President’s Trophy in 1992.

While coaching the Philadelphia Flyers in 2000, Neilson was forced to take a medical leave before the playoffs began, the result of necessary cancer treatment. Though he tried to return at the end of the first round of the playoffs, he really wasn’t up to it. At the end of their season he was officially dismissed.

The following season he took an assistant coach’s position with the Ottawa Senators. At that time he was two games shy of having coached 1000 games; a feat accomplished by only eight previous coaches. As such Senators Head Coach Jacques Martin gave up his position behind the bench for the last two regular season games—which win or lose would not have affected the Senators standings—and allowed Neilson to take the helm.

“On Saturday night [April 13, 2002], Harold Ballard will roll over in his grave. That’s what Roger Neilson figures will happen when he closes a circle that began 25 years ago. On Oct. 13, 1977, Neilson, now 67, began his NHL career behind the bench for Ballard’s Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-3 tie against the Detroit Red Wings. On Saturday, he’ll coach in his 1,000th game, this time appropriately, against the Maple Leafs.”

Neilson’s coaching days were over, and his cancer would claim its victory June 21, 2003, five days after his 69th birthday, but not before he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in November 2002.

“Roger Neilson’s long storied trip around the NHL has come full circle,” reported The Daily News of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. “The vagabond coach with the loud ties is back in Toronto, the city he calls home, the city where he had his first head NHL job and the city of his latest stop—the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

Neilson also was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2002. In a nod to Neilson’s teaching, the Ontario Hockey League created an award to recognize the top academic collegiate or university player in 2005. They named it the Roger Neilson Memorial Award.

Additional Sources:

• Allen Panzeri, “Neilson to answer milestone ‘s call,” The Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa, Canada), Tuesday, April 9, 2002, p. C-1.
• “Neilson part of quartet to enter hockey Hall,” The Daily News (Lebanon, Pennsylvania), Thursday, June 20, 2002, p. 3C.
• “Veteran coach Neilsen <sic> named to lead Rangers,” The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey), Wednesday, August 16, 1989.