Cam Neely played 726 regular season games in a 13-year NHL career with Vancouver and Boston. He recorded 395 goals and 299 assists.

Neely worked for Hall call
By John McGourty | NHL.com
Nov. 5, 2005

Cam Neely just wanted to be a hockey player and, hopefully, win the Stanley Cup. Induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame was never a goal when he played. He just wanted to be on a winner.

Neely never won a Stanley Cup, but on Monday he will join Hockey Canada executive Murray Costello and the late Soviet scoring star Valeri Kharlamov as the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

"To be honest, I never really concerned myself too much with the Hall of Fame, just like I never really concerned myself with numbers when I played," Neely told a gathering of hockey writers Thursday. "I just went out and played and did what I tried to do best. The only thing I knew I could do was work hard; whether I played well or not was another story, but I knew I could work hard game-in and game-out."

The ninth overall selection in the 1983 Entry Draft, Neely played 726 regular season games in a 13-year NHL career with Vancouver and Boston. He recorded 395 goals and 299 assists. In 93 playoff games, he scored 57 goals and added 32 assists.

A five-time NHL All-Star Game participant, Neely won the 1994 Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. His No. 8 was retired by the Bruins in January of 2004, and last week he was named as a Bruins Ambassador, a position that will have him making appearances on behalf of the hockey team and the Bruins Foundation.

Neely was traded on his 21st birthday from his hometown team all the way across the continent to Boston where he became one of that sports-crazed city's all-time heroes. He helped the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1988 and 1990 and his comebacks from debilitating leg injuries endeared him to the fans. His comeback year of 1993-94, when he scored 50 goals in 49 games, is one of the great individual performances in NHL history.

Neely said he couldn't envision the athletic success and personal satisfaction then.

"I certainly wasn't expecting it. Never saw it coming, and subsequently didn't really know what to expect once I got to Boston," Neely said. "I had no idea that my career would have turned out the way that it did, playing in Boston for those 10 years.

"I think I just got a great opportunity right from Day One in training camp in 1986 to really either play well or not play well. They just said, 'Let's see what he could do.' I played with some of the top players right from the get-go of training camp and just as time went on, got more and more confidence. Obviously I think the style that I played was very well suited to the Boston Garden, the old Boston Garden, so I don't think that hurt at all."

Neely was caught behind a couple of well-loved veterans in Vancouver, but there was a need for a big right wing on the Bruins.

"It was just a tough situation. The Canucks were always struggling to make the playoffs, a .500 hockey club, that seemed to be the goal back then, to get into the playoffs and then we always either had to face either Edmonton or Calgary, which we didn't fare too well," Neely said. "I was playing behind Stan Smyl and Tony Tanti at the time, so I didn't see a lot of ice time, certainly didn't see any on the power plays. ... I think I played more in my rookie year in Vancouver than I did my third year."

Neely was fortunate to play in Boston with a pair of great passing centers, Craig Janney and Adam Oates. He credits them for a lot of what he achieved.

"Any winger that can shoot the puck would be thrilled to play with both Adam or Craig," Neely said, "Craig really had such great hands. We rarely talked on the ice. We just kind of knew where each other was going to be. I kind of told him where I would like to hang out, and once we got into the offensive zone, I knew where he liked to set up. Generally speaking, it was me getting into the corners, trying to dig out the puck if possible and then make my way to somewhere between the hash marks and top of the circle, just trying to get open, and he would always lay the puck in a situation where I could get rid of it quickly.

Neely's comeback year of 1993-94, when he scored 50 goals in 49 games, is one of the great individual performances in NHL history.

"With Adam coming to Boston and the success that he had with Brett Hull, being a right-handed center, I was a little bit concerned," Neely admitted. "But obviously the success that he had with Brett, I won't put myself in the category of Brett as far as shooting the puck. But Adam was by far one of the best backhand passers I've ever seen play the game, and just the way he can lay it flat for you off the backhand was pretty amazing. And he was not shy about going into the corner. I mean, he wasn't a big guy, but he played -- he played bigger than he is. And he was not shy about getting into the corners and digging the puck loose, either. That was probably a little different between Adam and Craig; whereas Adam, I find myself in the corners with Adam a little bit more."

Neely also admitted he's still disappointed the Bruins couldn't deliver a Stanley Cup to their fans during his years with the club.

"Well, in '88, I think a lot of us in Boston, it was our first time ever in the Stanley Cup Finals. And I know that a lot of us, we were so excited to be in the Finals, we kind of probably lost a little bit focus, of, OK, there's four more games to win," Neely said. "Plus, quite honestly, Edmonton was a much better hockey club in '88 than we were.

"But moving to 1990, I thought that we had a good opportunity to beat the Oilers. We had that triple-overtime game that everybody remembers. (Glen) Wesley had an opportunity, unfortunately shot it over the net. And then (Petr) Klima comes out and scores and kind of took the wind out of our sails.

"Opening up in Boston the first two games, you really feel like you've got to jump on them, because going back to Edmonton, the way they played and the style that they have and the guys that can skate the way they did, we knew it was going to be a little tougher battle going into Edmonton. With Craig (Janney), we had basically the one offensive line, and if we got shot down during the even strength, we really had to contribute on the power play, because they were really all over us. And they had a great game plan in shutting down Craig and myself. You know, obviously everybody knows the type of players the Oilers had in those years, and it was just -- you know, it was a battle for us to get through those guys."

Neely wishes he had more time in the NHL -- he even considered a comeback a few years ago -- but at 40, he's reached the age where he knows he would already be retired a few years. He can let it go and look back with satisfaction.

"Listen, the way that I played the game, it would be shocking if I didn't have some injuries, and that's the only way that I could play the game to help my team and also to be a better hockey player," Neely said. "And I enjoyed playing that way. So would I, at 30 years old, 31, 32? Certainly, I would have loved to have been playing, and really felt that I obviously still could have contributed the way I wanted to contribute, but it wasn't really the case. I'm not going to sit here and say it wasn't difficult to walk away from the game. It was extremely difficult to walk away from the game when I felt that I could still play at a high level. So that took a few years."