Roger Neilson - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

Neilson's coaching career began as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Peterborough Petes (then the junior farm team of the Montreal Canadiens in Hamilton) in 1966, and 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 programme, which led to camps from Port Hope, Ontario to Israel.

Neilson moved into professional hockey coaching in Dallas with the Dallas Black Hawks in the Central Hockey League in 1976–1977.

Neilson was head coach in the NHL for:

• Toronto Maple Leafs from 1977 to 1979 (following another eventual member of the Order of Canada, Red Kelly),
• Buffalo Sabres for the 1980–81 season,
• Vancouver Canucks from March 1982 to January 1984,
• Los Angeles Kings from February to April 1984,
• New York Rangers from 1989 to 1993,
• Florida Panthers from 1993 to 1995,
• Philadelphia Flyers from 1997 to 1998 and 1999 to 2000,
• Ottawa Senators for two games in April 2002. (Nielson was an Ottawa assistant coach, but was allowed to coach the final two games of the season so that he could hit the 1000 game mark)

In 1979, Neilson was actually fired as head coach of the Maple Leafs by then-owner Harold Ballard. There was outrage throughout the players, media, and general public. Ballard then relented. Ballard wanted Neilson to enter the next game with a paper bag over his head (to be "the mystery coach") but Neilson refused and coached the next game as if nothing had happened.

He 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 in Quebec. 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 Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

His tenure with the New York Rangers was also successful; the highlight was coaching the team to the Presidents' Trophy as the first place team in the league in 1992.

With Philadelphia, he led the team to first place in the Eastern Conference in 2000, a position that the team would retain for the rest of the regular season. With the Flyers leading in the conference standings by the midseason All-Star Game, Neilson earned the honour of being head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Previously, he had coached the Campbell Conference All-Stars at the 1983 All-Star Game.

In addition, he also worked for the Edmonton Oilers as a video analyst during the 1984 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which lead to the Oilers' first Stanley Cup championship, and Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant coach under 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 worked as a television analyst for hockey coverage on TSN.