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Say a prayer for Captain Video
His team once gave him a gift of 80 ties to wear with his suits
(for their 40 home games and 40 away games).
.  He was one of the first to use game videos to study his team and his opponents in preparation for upcoming games. That team fondly nicknamed him Captain Video. He has been the head coach of 8 NHL teams. Something that may never happen again. He has coached in Chicago, Toronto, Buffalo, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, Florida, Philadelphia and Ottawa. Non-supporters may say that that is not an admirable credential. Given the average career span of NHL coaches, you’d have a better chance at a career in pro wrestling than you’d have as a coach in the NHL.
They don’t make them like these guys anymore; Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Don Cherry, Jacques Demers, Glen Sather, Dave King. The old joke used to go something like this…
if a baseball player got a blister on his finger, he’d miss a week. If a basketball player got a blister on his heel, he’d miss a game. But, if a hockey player needed stitches, he’d be back for the next period. Well this is the mold that this guy comes from.
When suddenly diagnosed with
bone marrow cancer, he was informed that he might miss the first round of the playoffs if a bone marrow transplant was necessary. To paraphrase his response…
“based on our first round performances in the past few seasons, that may not be so bad.” This is a guy who wouldn’t let the horrific news of his own health interfere with his lifelong love and NHL career of 25 years. He wore a pack around his waist with a pump that delivered his chemotherapy cocktail through a catheter under his left collar bone.
Noted Achievements
Neilson was personally responsible for several NHL rule changes.
Penalty shots: Once while coaching in Peterborough, he substituted a big defenseman named Ron Stackhouse for the goalie before a penalty shot. As the player skated in on goal, Stackhouse skated out of the net, surprised the shooter and batted the puck away from the shooter. The rule was changed the next season.
Pulling the goalie: During a time-out, Neilson told his goaltender, “...when we pull you, just leave your goal stick lying in the crease.” When the other team gained posession, they sent the puck the length of the ice toward the open net, only to deflect wide when it hit the goal stick lying in the crease. The rule was changed the next season.
Delay of Game: In a Peterborough playoff game, Roger had a few buddies up in the cheap seats. To slow the pace of the game, when signalled, the loyals hurled a few eggs onto the ice which took five minutes to be cleared and slowed the pace of the opposing team. It prompted the delay of game penalty in the closing minutes to be changed to award a penalty shot.
Rally Towels: The “Rally Towels” that you now see distributed to fans prior to significant games and playoff games are directly derived from Roger Neilson. While coaching Vancouver during a playoff series against the Blackhawks in Chicago, the referee had signalled 4 penalties in a row against Vancouver. Neilson declined to throw his players’ sticks out onto the ice as he had been warned for doing so in the past. So, he took a white towel from the bench, draped it over the top of one of his player’s sticks and waved it back and forth as if to “surrender” to the referee. When Vancouver returned home for the next game in the series, every fan in attendance was given a white “Rally Towel”. This practice is still popular today.
The Art of Forechecking: Frustrated by his players chasing their opponents behind their own net, Roger enlisted the aid of his dog, Jock to convey the art of forechecking in practice. He brought his dog onto the ice and positioned him in front of the net. Roger got behind the net with a puck and Jock proceeded to jump back and forth from left to right in front of the net in an effort to get Roger to skate out from behind the net with the puck. But Jock was smart enough not to commit to going behind the net. Needless to say, the lesson sunk in.
There have been other hockey heroes whose lives have been in the hands of fate. Referee Paul Stewart is a survivor of colon cancer. When I saw him at the Coliseum last year, I said, “Stewie, I give you a lot of credit.” He said, “Thanks, it’s great to be here!” I said, “It must be, I remember when no one could figure out how you kept getting into the New York Rangers training camp back in the 70’s. Now they’ve given you a whistle.” He knew exactly what I was talking about. Stewie was a loose cannon! Then he disappeared for a while. Only to resurface as an NHL ref! If you ever saw this guy play in the 70’s, you would never have handed him a whistle. He looked at me with that same devilish look and said, “You take care.” I said, “It’s good to see you again, Stewie.”
Mario Lemieux has overcome Hodgkin’s Disease. Ex-Tampa Bay assistant coach and former NHL’er, John Cullen has fought brain cancer and was one of the first to call Roger Neilson. He told him, the first thing to do is to not pay attention to the statistics. Forget what the odds are. Just battle this the way you’ve always battled adversity; by thinking you’re going to come out on top. That was 5 years ago. We all know that hockey players are a different breed. If I had to bet my last buck, it would be on a hockey guy. Say a prayer for these guys, in whatever way you do. They are why we love the game so much.
And, whatever you do in life, do it with the dedication and perseverance that these guys contribute to their careers, and you too will be successful.
I have known Roger Neilson personally for the last 12 years. I was extremely honored to receive an invitation to his tribute dinner in Toronto last June after he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. I attended without hesitation. It was clearly evident that he was an enormous influence on the hockey careers and personal lives of anyone that has known him. I always got a Christmas card from him and he never declined a request to meet for lunch or a cup of coffee when he was in town. If I couldn’t secure game tickets to one of his games (at home or on the road), Roger would get them and leave them at the box office for me in my name.
Inspired by his annual Christmas cards, I recently developed my own line of Hockey Holiday Greeting Cards. Last November, I met Roger for lunch and tossed a box of the cards across the table to him and said, “Here, this is all your fault.” In puzzlement, he replied, “What do you mean?” I explained that after years of receiving his cards, we amateur coaches had nothing of our own to send out so I decided to develop a line of cards and gave them to him as “Thanks”. He called me three weeks later and asked me if I could send 40 boxes of cards to his hotel. He had sold them to the players, and all the people in the front office. That’s the kind of guy Roger was.
Hockey has suffered a great loss. Not only in his contribution to professional hockey, but to the education of amateur players, coaches and the lives he has touched with his generosity and his knowledge. He is truly an inspiration, role model and mentor, not only to myself, but to the thousands who have crossed his path along the way.
God bless you Roger Neilson ! I am honored to have been your friend.
Bill Alonge
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