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Sunday, June 22, 2003

By Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press

Roger Neilson, a Hall of Famer who was the head coach of eight National Hockey League teams, died yesterday. He was 69.

Senators assistant coach Roger Neilson was named head coach for the last two games of the Senators' regular season at a news conference in Ottawa in this April 8, 2002 photo. Neilson, a Hall of Famer who coached more than a quarter century in the NHL, died Saturday, June 21, 2003. He was 69. He had been battling skin and bone cancer, and his death was announced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman 90 minutes into the NHL draft. (Jason Ransom, Ottawa Sun/via AP)

He had been battling skin and bone cancer. He died at his home in Peterborough, Ontario, the Ottawa Senators said.

Mr. Neilson's death was announced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman 90 minutes into the NHL draft.

"We'll miss you, Roger," Bettman told the crowd, which stood for a moment of silence.

Mr. Neilson was an NHL coach or scout each of the last 25 seasons but never won a Stanley Cup. This year, he completed his third season as an assistant with the Senators. He reached the Stanley Cup playoffs 11 times in his 15 seasons as a head coach.

Ottawa was Mr. Neilson's 10th NHL team, and the Senators' inability to win the Cup this season was a source of considerable dismay for the players. Ottawa lost in the Eastern Conference finals to New Jersey in seven games. His illness forced him to miss some games during the deepest playoff run in Senators' history.

This season, as he became stooped and gaunt and wore a baseball cap to cover his bare head, Mr. Neilson was a motivational force. He spoke to the Senators before their Game 5 victory over the Devils. Defenseman Chris Phillips, in tears after the Senators were eventually eliminated, recalled what Neilson meant.

"It wasn't something we talked about every day," Phillips said. "But every guy in this room knew it. I feel terrible. This was the team that was going to be able to do that, win one for Rog, and we let him down."

Senators president and chief executive Roy Mlakar called Mr. Neilson a "great friend and a man who's touched many with his spirit across the world."

Mr. Neilson was elected last year to the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builders' category.

"It was so unexpected," he said at the time. "You just wonder why you were picked when there are so many others that may seem to have done more."

Scotty Bowman, with the most wins of any NHL coach, said Mr. Neilson never got the credit he deserved as a tactician and coach, in part, because he worked for so many teams.

Bowman said Mr. Neilson had been receiving 24-hour care the past few weeks but still sent a 20-second video for a coaching clinic.

"Hockey life and Roger were intertwined, and that's probably what kept him going so long," Bowman said.

Few did more in as many places as Mr. Neilson.

After coaching Toronto from 1977 to 1979, it was off to Buffalo for one season. From 1981 to 1984, Neilson coached Vancouver, which reached the finals in 1982. He finished 1984 with Los Angeles, but only for 28 games.

Mr. Neilson led the New York Rangers from 1989 to 1993, Florida from 1993 to 1995 and Philadelphia from 1997 to 2000. His head coaching record was 460-381-159 in 1,000 games

Mr. Neilson briefly filled in for Jacques Martin as Ottawa's head coach to reach No. 1,000. Only nine coaches have hit that plateau.

Mr. Neilson was labeled "Captain Video" for introducing videotape as a teaching tool. He was regarded as a player's coach, and his loud ties behind the bench became a fashion fixture.