Editing Roger Neilson (section)

==Non-coaching career==
Neilson worked for the [[Edmonton Oilers]] as a video analyst during the [[1983–84 NHL season|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 NHL season|1987–88]] and [[1988–89 NHL season|1988–89]] seasons, Neilson did not coach but served as a color commentator for [[TSN Hockey|TSN]] with [[Jim Hughson]] and [[Gary Green (ice hockey)|Gary Green]].

===Retirement from hockey===
On February 20, 2000, Neilson went on medical leave for cancer treatment, and [[Coach (sport)|assistant coach]] [[Craig Ramsay]] took over in his absence.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Alex |first=Rachel |date=2000-02-20 |title=Suffering From Cancer, Neilson Leaves Flyers |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/2000/02/20/suffering-from-cancer-neilson-leaves-flyers/cd532ee7-6bbc-45ce-ac94-9c703344b9d0/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref name="other">{{Cite web |title=One thing after the other |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/169701417/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name= other/> In an interview, Neilson said he had been "treated like a king" and referred to Clarke as a friend.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Panaccio |first=Tim |title=Neilson 'devastated' over furore after joke |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/476386418/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=[[Newspapers.com]] |publisher=[[Philadelphia Inquirer]] |language=en}}</ref> All the while, Ramsay repeatedly said that he would return to assistant coach as soon as Flyers' management approved Neilson to return as coach.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kelley |first=Jim |title=Hasek and Zhitnik are the big unknowns in Sabres' equations |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/877882676/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Neilson to return to Flyers as assistant - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/04/24/Neilson-to-return-to-Flyers-as-assistant/9127956548800/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Flyers' Neilson is back but as an assistant only |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/04/25/flyers-neilson-is-back-but-as-an-assistant-only/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref> Neilson was ultimately informed that he had been permanently replaced by Ramsay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ramsay to coach the Flyers |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/06/09/ramsay-to-coach-the-flyers/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref> 

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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25822-tales-from-behind-the-bench-the-bizarre-genius-of-roger-neilson |title=Tales From Behind The Bench: The Bizarre Genius of Roger Neilson |work=Bleacher Report |last=Lewis |first=Josh |date=May 28, 2008 |access-date=March 12, 2023}}</ref>

Neilson was then hired as an assistant coach for the Senators. For the last two games of the [[2001–02 NHL season|2001–02 season]], which were inconsequential to the standings, head coach [[Jacques Martin (ice hockey)|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESPN.com: NHL - Neilson to coach Ottawa's final two regular-season games |url=https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/2002/0408/1364804.html |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.espn.com}}</ref> 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 illness|terminal]] when the Senators were ousted in a seven-game series.

Neilson's overall regular-season record was 460 wins, 378 losses, 159 ties, and 3 overtime losses.

===Coaching legacy===
Neilson dedicated his entire life to coaching and hockey. He had no family ties and would stay up late into the night watching video and analyzing games.

Among his most well-known innovations was the use of [[Video cassette recorder|videotape]] to analyze other teams, leading to the nickname "Captain Video". He was also the first to use microphone headsets to communicate with his assistant coaches.

In situations where the face-off was in the opposition's end and there were three or less seconds to go in the first and/or second period, Neilson would pull his goaltender for an extra attacker for a potential shot on net off the ensuing face-off. His reasoning was that if the other team gained possession of the puck, it would be virtually impossible for the opposition to score from their end in the mere seconds that were left.  No other coach would consider this radical move, and it was indicative of his innovative thinking.

Neilson was well known for closely reading the rule book with the intent of exploiting [[loophole]]s. During one particular game in his first season coaching the Petes, he was down two men in a [[five on three]] situation for the last minute of the game. Realizing that more penalties could not be served under the existing rules, Neilson intentionally put too many men on the ice every ten seconds. The referees stopped the play and a faceoff was held, relieving pressure on the defence. In addition, Neilson also took advantage of fans throwing objects onto the ice to deliberately cause stoppages of play late in a game. After these displays, the rules were changed so that a call for too many men on the ice in a five on three situation, or a delay-of-game penalty in a five on three situation, or any deliberate act to stop play (i.e., objects thrown on the ice, or the net being intentionally dislodged) in the last two minutes of regulation or in overtime now results in a [[Penalty shot (ice hockey)|penalty shot]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

Neilson also discovered that if he put a defenceman in net instead of a goaltender during a penalty shot, the defenceman could rush the attacker and cut down the latter's angle of shot, greatly reducing the chances of a goal. In 1968, he used this information in an OHL game between Neilson's Peterborough Petes and the opposing [[Toronto Marlboros]]. Neilson replaced Petes goaltender Pete Kostek with defenseman [[Ron Stackhouse]]. Stackhouse successfully blocked Frank Hamill's penalty shot attempt by charging out as soon as Hamill crossed the blue line.<ref>{{cite news|title=Penalty shot bid blocked by defenceman|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-qUtAAAAIBAJ&pg=4070%2C6460564|access-date=30 January 2015|agency=The Canadian Press|work=The Montreal Gazette|date=September 27, 1968}}</ref><ref name=kay>{{cite web|last1=Kay|first1=Jason|title=NFL has Deflategate, did the NHL have Coffeegate?|url=http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/nfl-has-deflategate-did-the-nhl-have-coffeegate/|website=The Hockey News|date=January 29, 2015 |access-date=30 January 2015}}</ref> The rules now state that a team must use a goaltender in net for a penalty shot and that the goaltender cannot leave the crease until the skater has touched the puck.

One game during a time-out, Neilson told his goaltender, "...when we pull you, just leave your goal stick lying in the crease." When the other team gained possession, they sent the puck the length of the ice toward the open net, only to deflect wide when it hit the goal stick lying in the crease. The rule was changed the next season so that a goal would be awarded in such a situation.

Neilson also broke the rules, in a sense, when he did not like what was happening on the ice. As the Canucks coach during game two of the 1982 [[Campbell Conference]] Final playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks, he felt his team was unfairly penalized on several occasions during the third period. He took a trainer's white towel and held it on a hockey stick, as if to wave a white flag. Three other Canucks players did the same thing, and all were ejected from the game. By doing this, Neilson inadvertently started an NHL tradition. Canucks fans [[Towel Power|waved white towels by the thousands]] at the next game, a playoff tradition that continues to this day and is widely copied by other hockey teams.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McIndoe|first1=Sean|title=NHL Grab Bag: Everyone in Toronto Seems Extremely Chill About Clarkson's First Goal|url=http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nhl-grab-bag-everyone-in-toronto-seems-extremely-chill-about-clarksons-first-goal/|access-date=March 28, 2017|work=Grantland |date=November 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Laing |first=Zach |title=NHL History: Roger Neilson waves the white towel |url=https://canucksarmy.com/news/nhl-history-roger-neilson-waves-the-white-towel |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=CanucksArmy |language=en}}</ref>