June 21, 2003

Roger Neilson: 1934-2003

While watching the NHL draft this morning, it was announced that Roger Neilson passed away this morning at his home in Peterborough, Ontario. A sad moment for any fan of the game. Over the years, he made a significant impact on the game at all levels. It would be too easy to point to innovations like the trap and serious use of video for pre/post game analysis and scouting. Roger brought far more to the game than that.

I had the pleasure of meeting Roger once at a youth hockey tournament in Toronto a few years back. Even though I was only able to speak with him for a couple of minutes, his love for the game and particularly teaching the game was obvious. He looked over a bunch of California kids out on the ice and between the words of praise you could see him just itching to hop over the boards and impart his wisdom to the hopeful youths.

He didn't restrict his teachings to those fortunate enough to be in the US or Canada. Roger held several youth hockey camps in Metulla Israel. I'll let the NHL and various news services fill you in on his contributions to professional hockey, but I'd like to say that today we mourn the loss of a great man that has contributed so much of himself for the game and to the kids that enjoy it at the rink, on the ponds, and in the hallways.


Posted by ac at June 21, 2003 03:18 PM

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