Harry Sinden, the Bruins' GM at the time Boston acquired Cam Neely from Vancouver, thought No. 8 was the complete package.

Sinden seconds the motion
By James Murphy | Special to NHL.com
Nov. 7, 2005

When Cam Neely got the call from the Hockey Hall Of Fame last June telling him that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Boston Bruins President Harry Sinden released a statement congratulating Neely. In that statement he referred to Neely as "the player every hockey player wanted to be."

NHL.com recently asked Sinden, who was the general manager of the Bruins when Neely was traded to Boston in 1986, to elaborate.

"Well, in my opinion it has always been a goal of hockey players to score points and yet at the same time, match that with a rugged, aggressive game and play that game within the boundaries of the rules," Sinden said. "Cam did that to perfection and that's what I meant by saying he is the player that every player wanted to be."

While the Bruins believed they had acquired some of those attributes when they dealt Barry Pederson to the Canucks for Neely and Vancouver's first pick in the 1987 Entry Draft, Sinden admits he never thought he was getting an eventual 50-goal scorer and now a Hall of Famer.

"I wasn't surprised we got him then because nobody knew then what he would become and he was struggling and not getting much ice time," Sinden said. "But never in my wildest dreams did I think he would score 50 goals three times and become the player he became or a Hall of Famer.

"Vancouver wasn't that high on him at the time and he was still a young and unproven player. But we had him rated high on our draft chart and based on what our chief scout at the time, Bart Bradley, saw of him in Vancouver and juniors, we still thought he could be a good player."

According to Sinden, the Canucks were dangling four or five different players as trade bait to reel in Pederson, but Neely was the one they wanted most.

"We had other options, but Cam was the one we wanted," Sinden said.

Of course, Sinden tries not to be one to take credit. In fact, Sinden said Bradley deserves full credit for pushing for the trade, but Sinden does say he sported a proud grin on his face throughout Neely's first training camp in Boston.

"First of all, I still say Bart Bradley deserves plenty of credit for making this trade happen," Sinden acknowledged. "But even though I hate to be a 'I told you so', I wasn't as surprised as some when he came out and had a good camp. He didn't score many goals right away, but he was still particularly exciting because of his ruggedness, size and the hits he would lay on guys."

That would not be all that the big winger from Comox, British Columbia would bring with his game. Eventually Neely would become one of the most prolific goal scorers of his era and make Sinden and Bradley look like they robbed Vancouver in this trade.

"Obviously now it looks that way on paper, but like I said at the time, we never saw all that offense he would produce and realized how much more Cam brought to the table," Sinden admits. "I mean, did I think he could be a 20-goal scorer, yes, but 50, no. But what he became was a rare breed of player. I can't really think of too many players who brought the package Cam did. That ability to score, bring finesse, skate and then turn the momentum around with a huge hit."

Sinden used those elements to back up his nomination for Neely to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

"I told them that they will never find a better combination of scoring and physical play," Sinden recalled. "I think the only player who came close to combining those elements was Gordie Howe. But I still think Cam brought more of a complete package. Gordie Howe was the epitome of a hockey player, but Cam was even more because he was more of a weapon on the ice. He was too much of a player not to make it."

Like many great players, Neely was forced to retire early because of nagging injuries.

Many hockey pundits have questioned Neely's credibility to be worthy of this honor, let alone be nominated. The big question has always been that he didn't play long enough and produce the stats that other nominees and inductees have. Sinden just points to the amazing stats he did have in his shortened career and probably one of the most amazing feats the NHL has ever witnessed.

"It's what he did in the time he played and the points-per-game that counts," Sinden said. "That season (1993-94) he scored 50 goals in 49 games was just simply amazing," Sinden said.

Some think that these question marks were the reason it took six years for Neely to get inducted and that the Hall of Fame selection committee had the same doubts, but Sinden begs to differ.

"I always thought he was a slam dunk and never doubted he'd get in," he said. "To blame the committee isn't really fair. It was more a matter of timing. Remember his first year of eligibility was the year (Wayne) Gretzky got the waiver and then the following years there were other Bruins ahead of him, (Ray) Bourque, of course, being the main one. You also have to remember, I had the opportunity to watch him every day and they didn't. They just saw the numbers, but the numbers were enough."

Even though, the Hall might not have necessarily focused on the comeback Neely made in the 1993-94 season and the charity work he's done, Sinden said it's hard not to take it into consideration.

"That was probably the most valiant effort I've ever seen a player make at a comeback and he did it," Sinden said. "People will never understand what he went through and how hard he worked. He tried every rehab out there. I have never seen anyone so resilient and dedicated as Cam."

That resiliency and dedication helped Neely become an icon in the Boston sports scene not just for what he did on the ice, but also for what he's done since. His passion and dedication to charities, specifically the Cam Neely Foundation, which provides housing for families of pediatric cancer patients at the New England Medical Center has gone beyond the call of duty.

"Cam has just been an exemplary person in the community and has become probably one of if not the be-loved Bruins of his time," Sinden said.

When Sinden traded for Neely in 1986, he thought he was getting a bruiser and a guy who could chip in a goal here and there. He got so much more. Now, Neely's name will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame for his hockey accolades, but as Sinden points out, anyone who knows what Neely has accomplished, both on and off the ice, knows that Cameron Michael Neely is so much more than a Hall of Fame hockey player. As Sinden says: "He's simply one of a kind."