Cam Neely was born on June 6, 1965, in Vancouver, B.C.. After scoring 56 objectives and 120 factors in 72 video games with the Portland Winter Hawks within the Western Hockey League, his hometown Vancouver Canucks chosen him with the ninth general choose on the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.
Instantly following the draft, Neely debuted with the Canucks and scored his first purpose in his third sport in opposition to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 9, 1983. In his second season, he tallied 20 objectives for the primary time, ending the marketing campaign with 21 lamplighters and a then-career-high of 39 factors.
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By 20, Neely had already skated in 201 NHL video games, gathering 51 objectives and 104 factors, however was a minus-54 with 320 penalty minutes. At this level, he had but to file a hat trick, and in simply seven playoff video games, he had two objectives. Nevertheless, the destiny of the Canucks and the Boston Bruins would perpetually change on June 6, 1986.
Neely Begins Journey to Hockey Corridor of Fame in Boston
Basic Supervisor Harry Sinden orchestrated some of the unbelievable offers in Bruins franchise historical past when he dealt away six-year veteran Barry Pederson for Neely and a first-round draft choose in 1987. Throughout his first marketing campaign in a Spoked B jersey, Neely erupted for 36 objectives and 72 factors, selecting up his first profession hat trick in February. He scored 5 objectives in 4 playoff video games in opposition to the Montreal Canadiens, together with his postseason hat trick. On the time, nobody might have anticipated that Neely would go on to grow to be the Bruins’ all-time main playoff scorer (55) and the skater with the third most profession hat methods for the Unique Six franchise. That first season was solely the start of one thing particular.
Neely potted 42 objectives for an encore in 1988, together with 4 regular-season hat methods whereas skating in his first NHL All-Star Recreation and Stanley Cup Remaining. After a “down” 12 months in 1989, the place the facility ahead solely scored 37 objectives, he set a career-high with 190 penalty minutes whereas scoring a league-leading 12 game-winning objectives.
Because the Bruins marched to their second Stanley Cup Remaining look in three seasons in 1990, Neely reached 50 objectives for the primary time, scoring an eventual career-high 55 objectives in 76 video games. Sadly, Boston would lose to the Edmonton Oilers for the second time, however that newest defeat didn’t sluggish Neely down, as he netted 51 objectives in 69 video games in 1991.
Nevertheless, that was the final time he skated in over 50 video games in a season. After a collision with Pittsburgh Penguins’ defenseman Ulf Samuelsson, Neely’s knees had been by no means the identical, and identical to Bobby Orr 20 years earlier than, a promising Bruins profession was reduce quick as a consequence of damage.
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From 1991 to 1993, the President of the Bruins performed solely 22 video games, scoring 20 objectives and 30 factors. After lacking 142 video games, Neely returned for one final hurrah in 1993-94, scoring 50 objectives in simply 44 video games. He compiled 74 factors in 49 video games, main the NHL with 13 game-winners and profitable the Invoice Masterton Trophy for his perseverance by way of his knee accidents.
Over the past two seasons of his taking part in profession, Neely performed 91 video games, gathering one other 53 objectives and 87 factors, skating in his last sport on Feb. 21, 1996, in opposition to the Mighty Geese of Anaheim. At his retirement, he was the Bruins’ fourth-highest purpose scorer with 344 objectives, solely surpassed by Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Ray Bourque, and David Pastrnak up to now 28 years.
Canucks Give Away a Future Corridor of Famer and Stanley Cup Winner
The Canucks gave up Neely and a first-round choose in alternate for Pederson, who was additionally a former first-round choice (18th general) within the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He debuted at 19, turning into a two-time 40-goal scorer by the top of his third season. Furthermore, Pederson grew to become an help machine, recording 61 and 77 in consecutive seasons in 1983 and 1984. Moreover, he set profession highs in factors with 107 and 116.
Nevertheless, an damage derailed his 1985 marketing campaign, limiting him to 22 video games, scoring 12 factors. Upon his return, he bounced again with 29 objectives and 76 factors in 1986 earlier than the deal to ship him to Vancouver went by way of. At first, he continued to place up strong numbers with the Canucks, gathering 52 assists in every of his first two seasons with 76 and 71 factors.
However 1988 was his final productive season within the NHL. In 62 video games, he scored 41 factors, and he had simply 9 the next season earlier than a commerce despatched him to the Penguins. Pederson had simply 36 factors in 84 video games with Pittsburgh however received the Stanley Cup as a member of the 1991 group earlier than coming again to New England as a free agent by signing with the Hartford Whalers in the summertime of 1991. In one of many uncommon trades between the 2 Northeast shut rivals, Pederson completed his NHL profession with the Bruins in 1992, skating in 32 video games and including 9 factors to his totals.
Despite the fact that the Canucks certified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1986, they’d a 23-44-13 file and wound up with the third general choose within the 1987 Entry Draft. Due to the Neely cope with the Bruins, Boston landed a top-three choose, the place they chose Glen Wesley.
Wesley performed 20 seasons within the NHL, scoring 128 objectives and 409 factors. He performed within the 1988, 1990, 2002, and 2006 Stanley Cup Finals and received a championship in 2006. He skated with the Bruins from 1987 to 1994 earlier than shifting down I-95 to affix the Whalers. When the franchise relocated to Raleigh, N.C., in 1997, he stayed with the group, now the Carolina Hurricanes. Though he had a short seven-game stint with the Maple Leafs in 2003, he returned to Carolina to skate in his last 4 seasons. After 13 seasons patrolling the blueline for the Whalers/Hurricanes, they honored his contributions by retiring his quantity in 2009, 5 seasons after the Bruins bestowed the glory upon Neely.
Historic Perspective
In 2024, Neely serves as President of the Bruins, a task he’s had since 2010, getting his identify engraved on the Stanley Cup in 2011 when Boston defeated his hometown Canucks in Recreation 7 at Rogers Enviornment. In the meantime, Pederson returned to New England in retirement, becoming a member of NESN, the place he serves as a studio analyst for Bruins video games. Wesley joined the Hurricanes entrance workplace as Director of Participant Improvement. He was within the place for a decade, from 2008 to 2018, earlier than becoming a member of the St. Louis Blues as a growth coach, profitable one other Stanley Cup with the group in 2019 in opposition to the Bruins.
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There isn’t any denying that Boston’s buying Neely in 1986 modified the franchise’s path. He would grow to be some of the beloved skaters in franchise historical past. As the final word energy ahead within the late Eighties and early Nineties, there’s no telling how far more success he might have had if his knees didn’t give out like Orr a era earlier than. In 2006, he entered the Hockey Corridor of Fame, solidifying his place among the many immortals, that means the Bruins landed a one-of-a-kind participant on this 1986 blockbuster.
