Cam "The Man" Neely
He scored!
He brawled!
He passed the puck!
He powered his way to the net - and left a trail of bodies on his way there!
He intimidated!
He overpowered!
He beat them all!
He was the MAN!
Finesse plays,
whamming and banging,
crashing the net, NEELY DID IT ALL - for
he was the true
prototypical power forward - not Brett Hull, not anybody else!
And no one has yet really replaced him since 1995...
Cam Neely truly did it all - every single time he laced up a pair of skates, he would give it his all and every coach he ever had could testify to that.
And he did it his own way too - as he was the FIRST "power forward"! Before him, the appellation did not exist! As Don Cherry said, "he put the POW in power forward!" - and Grapes would usually add "Cam Neely - you gotta love him!"
Indeed! Don's pup, Blue, sure did love him too!
Neely was forced into early retirement though - because not everyone loved him! He was single-handedly defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1991 playoffs - outshining the so-called "magnificent one" himself, Mario Lemieux. There was no stopping Neely - whereas, finesse/spineless ones like Mario can always be solidly checked and thus discouraged (not too often though and not too violently, or their teams will send the goon of service to "protect" their guy... Although, to tell the truth, Neely didn't fear such developments - in fact, he thrived on them, partly! He would take care of any goon that came his way) - Neely kept on putting them in the net for the Bruins against the Pens with disarming ease!
So, what did the Penguins coach, Badger Bob, do? He did not dispatch the goon on Neely - Cam was outscoring their star! To have Cam beat up their goon on top of that would have signaled complete dominance of ONE MAN over an entire team of mere "contenders" or really pretenders as they were then... Badger Bob decided to go lower than that - he dispatched Ulf Samuelsson, a lowly talentless defenseman, to do the dirty work. Hit Neely IN THE KNEE - from behind.
A no-no in hockey. A low blow by any other name, in any other field. Neely was ordered injured as a last resort for a coach who desperately wanted to win one before he DIED. (Somehow, he knew that this was his only shot to win - as he would die of cancer shortly thereafter.)
Neely would never be the same player again.
But he was even BETTER for a short time, immediately after his return...
He came back from the injury but he could not play every day - he would only play every other game. Still, he would score 50 goals in 49 games like that - still the greatest comeback bid in recent NHL history and, I say, ever! The picture above shows Cam in "revenge" mode - roughing up Ulf Samuelsson in 1993 if I am not mistaken - the year that the Bruins should have gone all the way... but were robbed again, three times in overtime in a series they should have taken with ease.
Such high theft and grand larceny in trifecta was committed by another team than Pittsburgh, at least...
The loss would be one too many though, as Neely's days as a player were numbered.
Deep down, everyone knew that, I guess. All the more reason to remember, I say...
And Neely could not possibly forget who had shortened his career - and why.
Hence, Cam Neely doesn't forget - like me. He had all the reasons to harbor a grudge. And the only reason he did not beat up Badger Bob too - was because Bob was no longer alive! That's why!
The knee injury soon gave birth to complications - the thigh became his problem and, much sooner than it logically should have been, Neely had to retire.
The picture at the top is from his sad press conference in 1996, where he made the announcement that he was not going to play anymore. An emotional Neely was forced to walk away from the game that he loved - and the departure was visibly painful.
Cam Neely propelled the Boston Bruins into contender status - past hated rivals such as the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. Cam Neely was a player with a whole lot of heart and natural-born scoring talent that only became evident once in Boston, the team he was born to play for.
Cam Neely was THE MAN!
He would be thwarted by the many adversaries who envied him, and cheated him from his rightful place as Stanley Cup champion. Those in the know sure do know better than that though. Cam is a greater champion than sissy Mario, Gretzky, Messier and Lindros! A greater champion than that Crosby kid will ever be too... And even a greater one than Phil Esposito himself, who did win the Cup twice for Boston. Phil never had to come back from a nearly-crippling injury as Cam had to... Neely showed more heart than even Phil, who "would have killed to win" against the Russians in 1972. Neely would not kill - he would simply have sent them flying, whoever stood in his way, and scored goal after goal after goal...!
And, in the end, they would not let him do even that.
How could they - they who do not know the meaning of "fair play"...
Everyone's in it for themselves and everyone wants to win - but DECENCY has its place too, even in contact sports, yes! But faced with a gritty talent who can do it all, they have to take him out maliciously and not even allow him to compete, lest he beats you... fair and square!
How could they NOT be envious and devious, hence, when faced with a Neely?
Today, Cam Neely remains the same simple guy - life has been good to him, despite several stiff blows (such as losing both parents to cancer, back-to-back... And the knee/thigh injury/saga, of course...)
Neely remains associated with the Boston Bruins and, in fact, was instrumental in convincing Zdeno Chara to sign with the team in 2006.
Neely holds minimal grudges, despite all that was done to him...
I dunno - seems to me that this is as close as one can get to sainthood in the sometimes brutal NHL...
7 Comments:
At 12:54 AM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
Ironic that, as I publish this here, Pittsburgh is so much "in the news"...
The Steelers took full advantage of the fact that they DID NOT have to play the Patriots this year to go all the way and finally emulate the Patriots' winning ways... Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say.
No town (with a few exceptions, mind you...) deserves LESS a championship than the Pitts...
Winning (by all dirty means necessary) did not do wonders for the damn Pittsburgh Penguins...
As mentioned, Badger Bob died shortly after winning.
Ulf's career died fast enough too.
Mario Lemieux himself has gone through a series of ailments (the latest of which forced HIM into retirement - at last, because he was extending his career way too much; fringe benefits of being your own team's CEO too... His ailment though could cost him his life too. He had Hodgkins Disease. Recurring back pain. And now this. He is too pragmatic or idiotic to think that he might be cursed I guess. But the Pittsburgh franchise's woes might make him change his mind about that...)
The Penguins started this year even optimistically by signing a lot of free agents (one I thought should have been a Boston Bruin years ago - Zigmund Palffy. And another they stole from the Bruins - defenseman Sergei Gonchar.)
It has all gone to heck now - their goalie got injured and is out for the year (had he been able to play, he would have lost more than he would have won anyway!). Palffy retired early as well. Lemieux now. And they keep on losing too!
You've guessed it - I feel that this is all well-deserved, for those peeps down in the Pitt!
And no - I am not suggesting Cam Neely is like Babe Ruth.
This is not the curse of Cam that is set upon the Pittsburgh Penguins. No. It's the curse of Badger Bob!
He who would win by any crooked means necessary...
What goes around
comes around
At 12:56 AM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
More irony - as I published this...
I noticed that the TWISTED HISTORY factoid on a parallel to it read like this:
"1999: Liberal muckraker Steve Kangas found dead under mysterious circumstances in Pittsburgh."
LOTS of shady going-ons in that Pitt... yeah!
At 9:48 PM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
And yet more irony...
Look what happened ON THE ICE the same day that I published this here...
Bruins 3, Penguins 1
Feb 8, 11:55 PM (ET)
Email this Story
Box Score | Recap | Game Log
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Penguins coach Michel Therrien rarely shies away from criticizing his players after poor performances.
That certainly didn't change after his team lost for the 17th time in 18 games, this time 3-1 to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.
"It was a bad performance," Therrien said after Pittsburgh was outshot 38-17 to fall to 1-15-2 since Jan. 3. "It started the first shift. (Goalie) Marc-Andre Fleury was outstanding tonight. It could have been pretty ugly. I am really disappointed with their performance.
"Unacceptable performance for those players. Unacceptable. ... It's not a matter of confidence. It's a matter of hard work."
Brad Stuart scored two power-play goals for Boston, which has earned at least one point in 11 of its last 13 games and is 16-10-4 since acquiring Stuart as part of a package in a trade for captain Joe Thornton.
The two goals tied a career high for Stuart, who has only 10 goals this season.
"We'll take goals from whoever we can get them from and if it happens to be the defense then that's a good thing for us," Stuart said.
Stuart's first goal came when Brian Leetch's shot deflected off Stuart's right ankle with just less than 4 minutes to go in the second period. The play was reviewed by the video goal judge to ensure that Stuart did not kick the puck in.
"Leetch was trying to do a slap pass to me and it kind of got away from him, but sometimes you get those lucky breaks," Stuart said. "I knew I hadn't made a kicking motion. The only thing I tried to do was I tried to move my leg and get my stick on it. But I was pretty confident that they would realize that it wasn't a kicking motion."
Leetch returned to the lineup after missing the past three games - and 10 of the past 12 - due to a groin injury.
(AP) Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas dives for the puck in front of the goal in the first period...
Stuart made it 3-0 when he scored on a wrist shot through Fleury's legs with 13:45 to play. It officially was a power-play goal, but it was practically a 5-on-3 goal as it was scored the second Pittsburgh's Tomas Surovy stepped out of the penalty box.
"I think we made it easy for them to play against us," Pittsburgh rookie Sidney Crosby said. "We can't play many more games like we did tonight or else it's going to make the next games tough."
Travis Green gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead 7 minutes into the second period when he collected a rebound of Josh Langfeld's shot just to the right of Fleury, deked around Fleury's stick and roofed a shot as he stood beyond the goal line.
Green had not scored since Jan. 19 and has only two goals in his last 15 games.
"I don't put a lot of stock into whether I score or not, but it was nice, though," Green said. "It was nice to get one tonight. A bit of a relief, that's for sure."
(AP) Pittsburgh Penguins' Tomas Surovy, right, of Slovakia, scores the Penguins only goal of the game...
Glen Murray assisted on both of Stuart's goals.
Surovy ruined Tim Thomas' shutout bid when he scored on a rebound with 1:31 left.
"It was a little frustrating because (shutouts) aren't easy to come by," said Thomas, who has allowed only six goals in his last five games. "But we got the win, and that's the important thing."
Boston completed a sweep of the season series. It defeated Pittsburgh 6-3 twice in Boston and 7-6 on Oct. 8 at Mellon Arena. The teams had not played each other since Nov. 5.
The Penguins went 0-for-6 on the power play, meaning Boston has killed 94 of its last 105 short-handed situations.
(AP) Boston Bruins' Glen Murray (27), Wayne Primeau (20) and others gather around Brad
Stuart,
"I thought we played well," Bruins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought we made clear decisions with the puck and came out and played with good energy."
Therrien was not nearly as happy with his team. Pittsburgh has allowed 15 goals in its last 48 short-handed situations.
"There are certain things a coaching staff can do," Therrien said. "But it's up to the players to be prepared. It's part of their responsibility to come and be ready to play and ready to work. Tonight was a bad performance." ^
Notes:
The Bruins acquired goalie Brian Eklund from Tampa Bay for forward Zdenek Blatny. Boston assigned Eklund to its American Hockey League affiliate in Providence. ... The Penguins have not won a season series against the Bruins since the 1997-98 season, when they went 3-2-1. This is the second time since 1987-88 that the Penguins were winless against the Bruins. ... The game was the 600th of Boston defenseman Hal Gill's career.
At 9:44 PM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
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."
At 9:50 PM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
A FANtastic perspective
of Cam Neely
By Bob Snow | Special to NHL.com
Nov. 2, 2005
-----------------------------
On Jan. 12, 2004, the Boston Bruins lifted Cameron M. Neely's No. 8 to the TD Banknorth ceiling, a fitting gesture for the power forward who lifted the Bruins for a decade between 1986-96.
What a thrill to gaze down from the press box as Neely slowly rolled hand-over-hand in methodical gesture that January eve; the same motion was also witnessed first-hand when Terry O'Reilly, Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, and Phil Esposito before, all joining Lionel Hitchman, Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper, and Milt Schmidt as the 10 Bruins legends to have their numbers entered into Boston hockey history.
On Nov. 7, 2005, Neely takes his final bow and emits his last cathartic outpouring of emotion for the game he truly loved to play when he accepts the quintessential honor bestowed upon the very best in the trade of professional hockey -- induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Of all the athletes I've marveled over the past half-century, none provided the level of adrenaline rush as Neely. Embedded in my hockey soul, No. 8 is woven throughout 50 years of puck luck.
During hockey season in high school, most weekends began on Sunday night. Four bucks every few weeks - and a lengthy wait at the old Boston Garden box office -- bought the next four-game strip of Bruins tickets. At a buck apiece, a ticket in the second balcony of that old "Gahden" in the 1960s was the best buy of a lifetime.
For a buck, I got to see by Bobby Orr play his first game in February, 1966; then go end-to-end for a decade while Phil Esposito set up in the slot and Wayne Cashman crashed the corners - 40 times a year. Balcony seats were made to watch No. 4 and Espo. Eight home games apiece in the Original Six against the Rangers, Wings, Leafs, Hawks, and of course, those damn Canadiens. What any purist would pay for that schedule today, eh?
Kids, budgets, and life's constraints appeared to bring Bruin lives in the old house on Causeway Street to a peaceful close at the end of that 1986 season after a decade of season tix in Section 99 of the balcony, and the new Bruin era led by newcomers named Bourque, O'Reilly, and Park.
Then along came Jack D'Entremont to a poker game that spring with one serious breath of fresh air. "Yeah," said Jack, "I think I'm giving up my season tickets, also. Can't find anyone interested in picking up some of the package."
"Where are they?" I asked.
"Three seats in Section G, Row 1, next to the goal judge."
Joined at the hockey-hip most of those preceding years, John Lee and I traded that look. Fill in the ensuing conversation. We took a partial-season package for the next decade.
"Puck luck," you say?
Add the Cam Neely trade a few months later.
The play of Orr, Espo, and Bourque was created for the balcony. Cam Neely was sculpted for G - 1 - ice level right behind the glass and goal.
Only four Boston athletes ever truly took me out of my seat on site and on the tube: Carl Yastrzemski in the 1967 Sox pennant drive and World Series, Bobby Orr every shift, Larry Bird on the parquet, and Cam Neely every time he bounded over the boards and set that stride in punishing motion.
There are no words to describe this 6-foot-one, 218 pounds of gristle from ice level. Only Peter Forsberg comes remotely close in today's game.
Let's spare his super stats herein and get right to the heart of No. 8. Cam Neely was Brett Favre on skates, Seabiscuit on ice shoes, Lance Armstrong on different wheels. End to end and wire-to-wire, he went all-out every shift.
The hard-working Neely was respected by both teammates and opponents.
He lined up checks from the locker room, never put a butt to a bench between shifts, and developed an aura, which to this day, still heightens the hackles when recreating the image of his crunching body checks and magnificent power that touched off a red light from the thumb of goal judge Eddie Quinn, Art Chisolm or Al Ruelle, Jr. Just once I wanted to lean over, scoop that black button, and be the very first to initiate a Garden decibel level unmatched since Neely hung 'em up prematurely to injury in 1996.
Bring Claude Lemieux, Ulf Samuelsson, and a cast of other Neely nemeses into the Garden, and the game took on an air of surreal excitement.
Pure anticipation was additional adrenaline in Row 1 when Neely came down the ice. Whether regular-season games, the playoffs - especially against Montreal - or the two Cup Finals in 1988 and '90, the cascading volume off the glass produced by his play was downright painful, taking days to ring it out. A long look up and across the Garden off a Neely goal brought a unique appreciation for his contributions, displayed by the adulation on the faces of the raucous 13,909.
The fondest and deepest memories of Cam Neely are his thundering stride, especially into the offensive zone. From ice level, it intensified into the neutral zone. From there he just followed his nose. Contorted more each year from an untold number of rearranged bones in that often-photographed proboscis, No. 8 would cross the blue line with brown eyes widening, nostrils flaring, left shoulder dipping, right skate planting, body angling; nothin' but net -- or a body -- on the radar screen.
The specific outcomes are blurred in history, but the impact is magnified in the memory. Goals, passes, shots, checks. Pick the most appropriate adjectives for Neely's on-ice accomplishments, and we put a token compliment to print. It's even tougher to write about his inner clock and off-ice contributions, especially for cancer patients; the Neely Foundation to assist cancer patients and their families was founded in his parents' memories.
Suffice it to say, I'll give up the press pass a few games a year for Section 18, Row 1 in the new Garden, if another Cam Neely ever comes along in Black 'n Gold. Not likely in this lifetime, though.
"It was a pleasure to play hockey for you," Neely told the crowd just before hoisting his number between Phil Esposito and Johnny Bucyk that January night. "And thanks, Harry, for the trade [that brought me to Boston]."
Thank you, Cam, for the memories; and congratulations from your legions of fans on your induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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At 9:12 PM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
Cam Neely, vp des Bruins
Mardi 25 septembre 2007
RDS.ca
Les Bruins de Boston ont nommé Cam Neely au titre de vice-président.
Il travaillera avec le directeur général Peter Chiarelli au niveau des opérations hockey. Neely assistera aussi le propriétaire Charlie Jacobs dans d'autres fonctions.
"Je suis très excité d'être impliqué avec les Bruins à nouveau", a dit Neely, qui a ajouté que comme plusieurs personnes, il était déçu de la tenue de l'équipe au cours des dernières saisons..
Âgé de 42 ans, Neely était un attaquant de puissance, qui a marqué 395 buts et écopé de 1 241 minutes de pénalité en 726 parties au cours de sa carrière, qui a malheureusement été écourtée en raison de blessures.
Les Bruins ont aussi fait savoir qu'ils allaient honorer Willie O'Ree, le 19 janvier prochaine pour souligner le 50e anniversaire de la présence d'un premier joueur de hockey de race noire dans la LNH.
Le 18 janvier 1958, O'Ree, originaire de Fredericton au Nouveau-Brunswick, est devenu le premier joueur noir à briser la barrière des couleurs. Cette soirée-là, il a joué contre le Canadien de Montréal. Il a joué une autre partie au cours de la saison.
Durant la saison 1960-61, O'Ree avait été rappelé par les Bruins et il avait disputé 43 parties, marquant quatre buts et obtenant dix passes.
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Michael Cameron Neely! neely8 2007/09/28 17:54:52
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At 11:42 PM, Luminous (\ô/) Luciano™ said…
Dismal enough to see a French network like RDS.CA make the booboo of typing up "le 19 janvier prochaine.."
Yikes!
But that is attributable to the fact that they were in a hurry to change the SUBJECT - not to focus too much on Cam Neely (a player like no other and a recent member of the Bruins - the Canadiens have nothing that comes close unless you go back to the 70s - and those are the days of ESPOSITO, BUCYK, CHEEVERS, HODGE & ORR, coached by Tom Johnson! But I digress... In part... Read on to know why!)
If they mention the first black player in the NHL, why not mention also that the Bruins have had MANY over the years: Darren Banks was a teammate of Cam Neely's in 1992-93, the year the Bruins SHOULD HAVE WON IT ALL! Anson Carter had his best years as a Bruin (whether he wants to admit it or not) and a little research could surely unearth more... (I'll leave it to others!)
Aside from the lack of focus and the silly typo that makes them sound like illegal immigrants, I guess that RDS.CA did inject enough respectful "wow" into their piece (that I will not bother translating though; Babel Fish suffices to that task, I am sure!)
They would go overboard if some loser like Saku Koivu would actually want to REMAIN in Montreal to accept such a job in the future - but cannot do that with the news of Neely's fixture in Boston since his retirement. Why? Because they ENVY IT.
No French-Canadian wants to stay in Montreal anymore - or come (back) to it! Too much pressure and media focus (or obsessive scrutiny, if you ask me!)
No foreigner gives a damn about Montreal!
But Cam Neely, Johnny Bucyk, Ken Hodge father and son, Don Sweeney, Garry Galley, Adam Oates, and even Montrealer Ray Bourque liked it so much in Boston, they want to STAY - even after retirement!
Former Canadiens player Tom Johnson was like that too. And he got to play for the Bruins, retire as one, coach them to a Stanley Cup championship and help in running the franchise from the top, in the front office. Tom Johnson was, in fact, a model VICE-PRESIDENT for an NHL franchise - the exact same title now bestowed upon Cam The Man Neely...
A mere two months after Neely's nomination, Johnson passed away in his Massachusetts home (on November 21st to be precise - a mere 24 hours before Thanksgiving, also)
This is not a bad omen at all - this is God at work here!
Who better to guide Cam Neely in his new post - than Tom Johnson, by his side, invisibly...? ;)
And in the months to come, they will be speaking of Neely's "flair and instinct" for his new job...
You'll see!
;)
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