Roger Paul Neilson (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams. Known as "Captain Video" because of his technological contributions to the game, he is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builder category. Alongside his decorated coaching abilities, Neilson is commonly remembered today for his many antics which resulted in the creation of several NHL rules.
Born in Toronto, Neilson attended a public high school, North Toronto Collegiate Institute. Neilson's coaching career began as a student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he continued to coach until graduation with a degree in physical education in both hockey and baseball.
Neilson's coaching career began in 1966 as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Peterborough Petes, then the junior farm team of the Montreal Canadiens, and he remained for 10 years in Peterborough, Ontario, where he maintained a home until his death. He also worked at the University of Windsor with a summer hockey camp program, which led to camps from Port Hope, Ontario to Israel.
Neilson moved into professional hockey coaching with the Dallas Black Hawks in the Central Hockey League in 1976–77.
Neilson's entry into the National Hockey League (NHL) came in 1977 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, when he was hired to replace Red Kelly as the head coach of the team. Neilson coached the Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–79), the Buffalo Sabres (1979–81, associate and head coach), Vancouver Canucks (1981–84, assistant and head coach), Los Angeles Kings (1983–84), Chicago Blackhawks (1984–87, assistant), New York Rangers (1989–93), Florida Panthers (1993–95), Philadelphia Flyers (1997–2000), and for two games with the Ottawa Senators in April 2002.
Neilson's tenure with Toronto lasted until 1979, when Neilson was fired as head coach of the Maple Leafs by owner Harold Ballard. There was outrage throughout the players, media, and general public. Ballard then relented, but wanted Neilson to enter the next game with a paper bag over his head as "the mystery coach", but Neilson refused and coached the next game as if nothing had happened. He coached the 1980-81 season with the Buffalo Sabres but elected to leave the team on mutual agreement due to differences with general manager Scotty Bowman.
Neilson was initially an assistant coach with Vancouver, but he took over as head coach after Harry Neale was suspended for taking part in an altercation with fans during a brawl against the Quebec Nordiques. When the team went unbeaten in the next seven games, he was given the job permanently. It was in his new capacity that Neilson led the team on its run to the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals.
Neilson worked for the Edmonton Oilers as a video analyst during the 1984 Stanley Cup Playoffs, culminating in the Oilers' first Stanley Cup championship, and the Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant to head coach Bob Pulford from 1984 to 1987. From 1995 to 1997, he was an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues. During the 1987–88 and 1988–89 seasons, Neilson did not coach but served as a color commentator for TSN with Jim Hughson and Gary Green.
Neilson was hired by the New York Rangers in 1989. The 1991-92 team, headlined by Mark Messier and Brian Leetch, recorded 105 points to receive the Presidents' Trophy, the first time the Rangers were the best team in the NHL in 50 years. In a playoff slightly delayed a few days by the 1992 NHL strike, the Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Division Finals. Neilson's reputation as a so-called old school coach was put under a microscope in Game 2 of the series, when Rangers player Adam Graves fractured the left metacarpal bone of Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux with a two-handed baseball swing of his stick. Graves stated that he was swinging on the glove to loosen his grip on the stick to deal with the puck, which reflected Neilson's belief for one to go for the hands. Neilson later said he did not see the incident, although it happened in front of his team's benches.
"Yes, no question about it. I kill penalties, too. I hit the gloves, also, once in a while. But to take a swing like he did ... that certainly came from the coach." Lemieux said after the injury. He added, "Certainly a contract was on me that game. I'm not saying Roger Neilson told Graves to go after me, but he told his players to go after me."
Graves was assessed only a two-minute minor penalty on the play. He was allowed to play in Game 3, in which he scored the first goal of a 6–5 overtime victory. Two days after the incident, at the league's disciplinary hearing, it decided to suspend Graves four games. The Penguins rallied to win their next seven games, the series, and the Stanley Cup Finals. The following season saw the Rangers fire Neilson after 40 games as the team became the first defending Presidents' Trophy winner to miss the playoffs.
He was the first coach of the Florida Panthers in 1993, and one of the key sticking points is that he insisted on having training camp take place in his hometown of Peterborough (where he also had a hockey school). In their first season, the team went 33-34-17 and recorded 83 points while Neilson finished fourth in voting for the Jack Adams Award. However Neilson was fired after the 1994–95 season with a year remaining on his contract, with general manager Bryan Murray stating, "I want to emphasize that Roger Nielson is not being released because of his past performances for the Florida Panthers. Roger's record with the Panthers was a good one and he has helped establish a solid foundation for this franchise. However, we have decided that a look toward the future of the franchise is crucial at this time. To make the progress we want, for the long term good of the Panthers, we feel changes have to be made." In the first season after Neilson was let go, Doug MacLean coached the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final, arguably on the foundation laid by Neilson.
After five seasons with the Rangers and Panthers, Neilson led the Flyers to first place in the Eastern Conference in the 1999–2000 season. With the Flyers leading in the conference standings at the midseason break, Neilson earned the honor to coach the Eastern Conference squad in the All-Star Game. Previously, based on his performance with the Canucks, he had coached the Campbell Conference All-Stars at the 1983 All-Star Game. But a Neilson-coached team fell short of expectations once again, as the Flyers were ousted by the New Jersey Devils in seven games in the Eastern Conference championship round.
On February 20, 2000, Neilson went on medical leave for cancer treatment, and assistant coach Craig Ramsay took over in his absence. On April 10, Neilson told General Manager Bobby Clarke that he was ready to return to the team, but Clarke insisted on additional medical clearance before he returned. In an interview, Neilson said he had been "treated like a king" and referred to Clarke as a friend. All the while, Ramsay repeatedly said that he would return to assistant coach as soon as Flyers' management approved Neilson to return as coach. Neilson was ultimately informed that he had been permanently replaced by Ramsay.
Neilson's dismissal by Clarke was widely lamented by fans and media as lacking class and respect. Neilson's doctors advised the Flyers that he lacked the strength to perform his duties as head coach. Neilson insisted on trying to return at the end of the first round of the playoffs, but Clarke refused. He even tried to defend his decision in the press, stating, "Roger got cancer – that wasn't our fault. We didn't tell him to go get cancer. It's too bad that he did. We feel sorry for him, but then he went goofy on us."
Neilson was then hired as an assistant coach for the Senators. For the last two games of the 2001–02 season, which were inconsequential to the standings, head coach Jacques Martin stepped away from the bench, allowing Neilson to take the reins and become the ninth man to coach 1,000 games along with the distinction of having served as a head coach for eight different teams. The following season, the Senators won the Presidents' Trophy as the regular season and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. It was public knowledge that Neilson's cancer was terminal when the Senators were ousted in a seven-game series.