Hockey Den: The Premier Hockey Card and Memorabilia Destination
Visit us at www.hockeyden.net and check out the 2008-09 Upper Deck Series 2 box break! Then enter to win your choice of a card from the break (Patrick Roy Jersey card anyone?)! It’s a Mitch Fritz-tastic break!!
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”Who Knew?” #8: Cam Neely
- Full name: Cameron Michael Neely
- Born June 6, 1965 in Comox, British Columbia
- Nicknamed 'Bam-Bam Cam' for his physical style of play
- Former World Wrestling Entertainment personality Justin LaRouche wrestled for the company's ECW brand under the moniker "Bam Neely", which is a take off of Cam Neely's name and nickname.
- Playing height and weight: 6 ft 1 in, 218 lb
- Recorded a 141 points (73 goals, 68 assists) during the 64-game 1981-82 season with the Ridge Meadows Lightning.
- During the 1982-83 season, Neely led the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League to the Memorial Cup Championship, becoming the first US-based team to claim the Cup
- Neely was drafted 9th overall in the 1983 NHL draft by his “hometown” Vancouver Canucks
- Cam played three productive seasons with Vancouver, averaging approximately 0.5 points a game.
- On June 6, 1986, in what has become one of the more lopsided trades in NHL’s history, Neely was traded to the Boston Bruins along with a first round draft pick in the 1987 draft (ended up being 3rd overall, used to take Glen Wesley) for Barry Pederson.
- The aforementioned trade occurred on Neely’s 21st birthday, and less than one week after both his parents had been diagnosed with cancer.
- Was coached in his first year in Boston by Bruins legend Terry O’Reilly. Fans came to love Neely more than O’Reilly as he did everything O'Reilly had done (score, hit and fight), but better!
- Don Cherry once suggested that if you had to take a player to Mars to show the Martians how hockey was to be played, Cam Neely would be the guy you'd take
- While playing for the Bruins he hit the fifty goal mark three times, played in five All-Star games, and was named the league's Second Team All-Star at right wing four times.
- Only ten players in NHL history had a higher goals per game average over their career than Neely.
- In the 1993–94 season Neely scored his 50th goal in his 44th game. Only Wayne Gretzky scored 50 goals in fewer games. This is not an official statistical achievement for Neely, however, as the “rules” around scoring “50 in 50” dictate that the 50 goals must be scored in the first 50 games the team plays, counting from the start of the season. Neely accomplished his “50 in 44” while being regularly listed as a healthy scratch in alternate games in order to rest his knee (more on this later).
- In spite of not being an official “50 in 44” record, the rate of his goals remains up there as one of the top of all time, with only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Brett Hull scored a better goals per game average over the course of an NHL season than Neely did in that 1993–94 season.
- May 11, 1991: During Games 3 and 6 of the Prince of Wales Conference Finals, Neely was hit multiple times by Ulf Samuelsson, once directly to the knee, in what many considered a "cheap" hit. Neely’s knee was injured during their battles through the series, which was worsened during recovery when he developed myositis ossificans (calcification of injured muscle tissue; likened to “muscle turning into bone”) in the injured area.
- Following the aforementioned injury, Neely managed to play only 9 and 13 games, respectively, over the next two seasons, and never played more than 49 games in a season after that due to the pain associated with the now chronic condition.
- Oddest injury of his career? Neely was slashed on the hand during the 93-94 season and lost the tip of his baby finger. The doctor termed it an amputation. What did Cam think? "It was the tip of the finger. I got some stitches."
- Neely's intense efforts to come back time and again from his devastating injuries were recognized with his winning of the Masterton Trophy after the 1993–94 season.
- A degenerative hip condition forced Neely into retirement at 30 years of age.
- Neely attempted a comeback in November of 1998, but abandoned it after four practices, noting that the pain was still present and not going away with time.
- His #8 jersey has been retired by the Bruins, making him the tenth player to have a number retired by the team.
- Neely was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.
- In September 2007, Neely was named Vice President of the Boston Bruins
- The Cam Neely Foundation for Cancer Care was launched in 1995 by Neely and his siblings after the passing of their parents Marlene and Michael Neely from cancer. The aim of the foundation is to help both cancer patients and their families during treatments
- Neely is also something of an actor! Appearances include:
a) Appearing on his friend Denis Leary's series “Rescue Me” as a hockey-playing firefighter
(Not a clip from the show but a funny segment of Leary talking about one of Cam’s jersey’s)
b) In an episode of "Cheers", an uncredited Neely can be seen as a bar patron.
c) A cameo in the movie Stuck On You.
d) A cameo appearance in the movie Dumb & Dumber, as the character Sea Bass. Sea Bass was brought back as a smaller cameo role in the film Me, Myself and Irene.
e) He also had a small role in D2: The Mighty Ducks where his role was "Celebrity at Party"!
On top of that, check out the great commercials he’s done as well:
Remember to visit us at www.hockeyden.net and check out the 2008-09 Upper Deck Series 2 box break! Then enter to win your choice of a card from the break (Patrick Roy Jersey card anyone?)! It’s a Mitch Fritz-tastic break!!
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