Roger Neilson's contributions never forgotten by Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Bill Torrey and Bobby Clarke were in Quebec City, Quebec, building a team.

At the 1993 Expansion Draft, the Florida Panthers' president and general manager acquired 24 players no other team wanted to create the franchise's first lineup.

But they still needed a coach for the ragtag bunch.

"Clarkie leaned over to me and said, 'I've got just the right guy,' " Torrey recalled.

"The right guy for what?"

"The right guy to coach this crew," Clarke responded. "Roger. There's only one. He's perfect for this group."

The roster filled out, with a veteran netminder in John Vanbiesbrouck, defensive defensemen Gord Murphy and Joe Cirella and tough guy Paul Laus. Up front, they selected Scott Mellanby, Brian Skrudland, Mike Hough, Tom Fitzgerald and Dave Lowry among others -- none of which had scored more than 25 goals in a single season.

The Panthers were going to have the assets to protect their own end, and Clarke was right: only the defensive-minded Roger Neilson could fill the role.

One had to imagine Neilson having much to smile about on Monday.

Underneath the BB&T Center, Neilson would have enjoyed catching up with former players assembled following the Florida Panthers' morning skate.

The man driven by a passion for the game would have basked in the vibrant atmosphere of the Panthers locker room on gameday.

It is also a good bet Neilson would have chuckled to himself at the note left on the whiteboard, reminding players to re-dock their iPads after reviewing video.

Looking sky-high from Florida's luxurious Club Red, at a ceremony in his honor, the quiet coach would have probably blushed at seeing his name in tribute.

When the Panthers dedicated the team's press box to Neilson on Monday, he was present in the hearts and memories of the many people whose lives he touched.

"I smile whenever I think about him," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said. "It's nice that he's being honored and there is a tribute. I think a lot of people who have crossed his path have benefitted from him."

Neilson, the first coach in Panthers history, was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 1999. He underwent a successful stem cell transplant in 2000. A year later, it was discovered he had malignant melanoma. Neilson passed away on June 21, 2003.

But the way former players -- many who have moved on to the profession Neilson revolutionized -- spoke in present-tense made it seem as if Neilson merely missed the event.

"I have a good relationship with Roger," Horachek said. "He was one of my first coaches. I spent a lot of time going up to his coaching clinics up in Windsor and he's obviously an important part of the game."

Neilson's coaching career spanned 34 years, predominantly as a head coach, but occasionally as an assistant. At the junior level, he served as coach for the Oshawa Generals for 10 years. He had a brief stint with the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League before becoming a mainstay in the NHL.

Neilson coached the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators.

In 2002, he joined the ranks of bench bosses who have coached 1,000 games. Then-Ottawa Senators coach Jacques Martin stepped aside for two games, allowing Neilson to reach the mark.

"His love of the game was second to none," Philadelphia Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren said. "When you spend any time with him, you could learn the history of the game, the future of the game and the present of the game. It was like being around an encylopedia."

Florida named Neilson its first head coach in 1993. But even that was not a sure thing, as Neilson's stubborness showed in contract negotiations.

"I remember when I was trying to sign him for his first year here, I thought it was going to be fairly easy," Torrey said.

Neilson, who was at a hockey school in his hometown of Peterborough, insisted the Panthers' first training camp took place there. Otherwise, no deal.

"He made sure we were going to have our first training camp in Peterborough because it would benefit his hockey school in a small way," Torrey said. "And he held out until the very bitter end."

The math worked out for Florida.

"We found out Peterborough wasn't such a bad place to start our first training camp," Torrey said.

From the start, Neilson instilled his idea of teammwork, dedication to each other and the need to create a close-knit locker room.

"He really taught us all about the idea of teamwork, the idea about not only being responsible for yourself, but your teammate," said Skrudland, the franchise's first captain. "That, I think, led to the camaraderie we had from day one."

During Neilson's two-year tenure as Florida's coach, the franchise completed one of the most successful inaugural seasons in NHL history, posting a 33-34-17 mark for a record 83 points. Neilson finished fourth in voting for the Jack Adams Award as the league's best coach that season.

And as Torrey explained, it set the foundation for Florida's 1996 run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

What set Neilson apart from his peers in the late 1970s and the early 1980s was the use of video to teach his players.

Today, video sessions are close to a daily occurrance for every NHL team. There are coaches and analysts dedicated to video alone. Improved technology has allowed players to not only sit in on team sessions but track their progress using tablet devices for individual video study.

Even the NHL as has committed itself to cutting video for the public to enjoy or break down their team's strengths and weaknesses. Every goal, big hits and key saves from every game are available to watch.

It is the kind of setup Neilson probably only imagined in his wildest dreams.

"We all do video now," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "He was the first one. Everybody does it now. He liked his video back then when not many people were doing it. He was ahead of the game for sure."

The Edmonton Oilers took advantage of Neilson's niche for video, hiring him as an analyst in 1984. Edmonton won their first of four straight Stanley Cups that season.

Before Skrudland played for "Captain Video," he was admittedly worried he'd spend more time in a darkened room than on the ice. That was not the case, obviously, and it offered more of a lesson of what it took to be a player beyond on-ice performance.

"As time went on I understood how prepared Roger was for everything. For every game," Skrudland said. "He did whatever to break down that team, what they did. He made us aware of it. His videos were great."

The videos were also the source of keeping things light in the locker room.

During the Panthers' inaugural year, then-rookie Rob Niedermayer failed miserably on a breakaway attempt. As Skrudland described it, "he shot the puck and missed the net," putting the puck into the corner of the rink.

The next day, assistant coach Lindy Ruff told the team they had video of Niedermayer's play to go over.

"They dug through the archives, found this old VHS with Lindy going in on this penalty shot," Skrudland explained. "They cut Robbie. They're showing Robbie at center ice getting ready, and when he got to the blue line, they cut it and there's Lindy and he scored."

It worked seamlessly because both Niedermayer and Ruff wore No. 44 during their respective careers.

"They never showed Rob's again," Skrudland said. "So you've got Rob feeling good and the team having a hell of a laugh over it. That's the stuff when I look back, we had a lot of fun, and (Neilson) was responsible for it."

Oilers coach and former Panthers defenseman Dallas Eakins had "fond memories" of Neilson, describing him as a "tireless worker" who taught his players to "chop wood, carry water."

"Geez, he used to sleep at the rink," Eakins said. "A lot of times it would be too late for him to go home so he would stay overnight.

"His incredible work ethic really rubbed off on me," Eakins said. "Roger was all about defense. I truly believe in defense, but he was so far the one way with it, there were a lot of times, I don't even think we were allowed to skate the puck over the red line. We had to dump it in."

Neilson's unique quirks brought a color to the game his players will never forget. Players would joke with him about his ties and headbands that made him look like a relic from Woodstock.

"Yes, the ties and crazy sayings from 'shucks' to 'by golly gee whiz' to 'rats sake,' " Skrudland said.

In Florida, Neilson took advantage of the beautiful tropical weather, often riding his bike to the practice rink in Pompano Beach. Occasionally, he'd get into a little trouble.

"He showed up at camp with bruises all over his legs and scratches on his face, he had a little accident driving on his bicycle," Torrey said. "He said the sun got in his eyes. Something did anyway. But that was typical of Roger."

Berube, who played two seasons under Neilson in Philadelphia, also recalled similar incidents.

"One time I think he got hit by a car." Berube said, shaking his head in disbelief, but with a smile on his face. "He used to get lost all the time. He couldn't remember his way riding around."

Even Horachek, who was signed by Neilson to play junior hockey, remembers his first coaches' idiosyncrasies.

"I remember when he first came to my house when he was 18, he had some nuts in his hand and he was always looking down, quirking and moving around," Horachek said, trying to mimic Neilson's actions. "I smile when I think about that as well."

Before Neilson passed away in 2003, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, recognized for his accomplishments in transforming the game.

In failing health, Neilson wrote a letter to Torrey, himself a Hall of Fame member for building the New York Islanders dynasty, in thanks.

The two talked by phone not long after.

"I said, 'Roger, you gave your life to hockey.' What more can you say to someone who (did that) truly, every single day of his life?"

Celebrate his memory, as the Panthers and so many touched by him have set out to do.

"I miss him and this is justly honored," Torrey said.

Somewhere on Monday, Neilson smiled.

Erin Brown can be reached on Twitter @rinkside