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Chris Neil expresses tears of joy as Senators raise his No. 25 to the rafters

Published

2 years ago

February 17, 2023

OTTAWA — Chris Neil wanted to go out the way he came in.

So, naturally, he chose the home team penalty box at the Canadian Tire Centre from which to salute fans following his jersey retirement ceremony Friday evening.

As the No. 25 Neil banner was raised to the rafters, to take its place alongside the banners of his former Ottawa Senators teammates Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips, Neil wiped tears from his ruddy cheeks.

He had wept earlier when he spoke about his family, especially his late mother, Bonnie.

And Neil made this revelation. All those times he would win a fight and raise his arms to ignite fans in the stands? Neil says it doubled as a message to his mom that he was OK.

The Senators are getting this jersey retirement bit down pat because this was a ceremony that did not miss a note. Filmed walking out to the ice from the Senators room, where he donned his Sens sweater for one more time, Neil walked through a phalanx of ex-teammates, with Phillips and Alfredsson the last pair to greet him.

The crowd erupted as Neil entered the arena in a salute.

“That was incredible,” Neil said afterward to reporters in the corridor outside the Senators dressing room. “It’s an incredible honour. For me and family this week has been amazing, what the Ottawa Senators have done to make my family feel right at home again.

“I can’t say enough about this organization and this community. As I said in my speech, they’ve embraced me right from the day I came in. And you guys (the media) have as well, you guys have been tremendous to me over my career.”

An earlier video showed the Neiler greatest hits, a robust clip that Don Cherry would have appreciated.

“He literally scrapped his way through the minors,” Phillips said, introducing Neil. And he had to crack a lineup on the right side that included Alfredsson, Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat.

Neil recalled all the great moments, from Darcy Tucker leaping into the Ottawa bench for a fight to high-fiving many of the thousands of fans who greeted the team at the airport following the Sens victory in Buffalo to send the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007.

Neil would score Ottawa’s first goal on home ice in that final series.

Above all, Neil displayed a sense of humility and gratitude on his special night.

Expressing love and thanks for family and friends from Flesherton, Ont., Neil told us after his speech he was thankful wife Caitlin, “my rock,” and their three children — Hailey, Cole and Finn — were not only here for the ceremony, but the children were old enough to remember dad playing. Hailey was born the day after Neil’s Cup Final goal in ’07.

“My kids caught a bunch of my years in the NHL and for them to be able to witness this, it’s incredible,” Neil said. “My youngest, Finn, he was tearing up.”

Neil acknowledged the support he had throughout his career and cited too many franchise members to repeat, although Allison Vaughan, Bryan Murray, Jacques Martin and Marshall Johnston were high on his list. It was Johnston who scouted and drafted Neil.

“Thanks for believing in me,” Neil said.

He also thanked Dr. Don Chow for providing nearly all the stitches he needed over the course of a pugilistic career.

Neil’s No. 25 jersey is the fourth in the history of the Senators franchise to be retired and third of the modern era. Neil is one of only three players (with Alfredsson and Phillips) in Senators history to dress in 1,000 games for the club. He sits 20th on the NHL’s all-time penalty minutes list and is one of only two players in NHL history to compile over 1,000 games and 2,500 penalty minutes while playing the entirety of his career for a single franchise.

Not bad for a sixth-round draft choice, 161st overall, by Ottawa in 1998.

After a rugged three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the North Bay Centennials, Neil spent a couple of years in the minors before making his debut with the Senators in 2001 as a 22-year-old.

The Sens beat the Leafs in Neil’s debut game, a fact cited Friday by Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe, to a roar from the CTC crowd.

Defenceman Wade Redden was already an established NHL star by that time, and he recalled the impression Neil made at his first Senators camp.

“I remember calling my brother and saying, ‘There’s this new guy, and he’s a pretty good player, but he just fights all the time,'” Redden said. “And I think that’s kind of how he announced himself to the team … he just wanted it so bad and knew what it would take to make a name for himself. His work ethic made him into a really effective player, too.”

Redden believes Neil’s physical presence helped take a young contending team to another level, as the Senators were among the NHL’s best clubs from 2002-07.

“We were a brotherhood,” Neil said of those teams. “We’d do anything for one another, and we held each other accountable and that’s what it took to win. We won a lot of games.”

Throughout his long career, Neil worked on improving every aspect of his game, including the science of fighting. He would study other tough guys, didn’t want to be surprised to find out that his opponent was a southpaw.

Though never in the super heavyweight class — Neil was a solid 6-foot-1, 210 pounds as a player — he wasn’t afraid to take on anyone. And he rarely lost a fight. Even big Zdeno Chara was in tough against Neil.

Never suspended, Neil pushed to the line but never crossed it.

“I was close a couple of times,” he joked.

He worked on his skills as well, often staying at the end of practice to join in the keep-away games with captain Alfredsson.

Neil scored 112 goals and 250 points in 1,026 NHL games while amassing 2,522 penalty minutes.

He’s no Hall of Famer with those numbers, and yet Neil was impressed to receive the blessing of so many hockey greats when he attended Alfredsson’s induction ceremony and played in the Hall of Fame game.

“There were legends down there, I’ve never met them before and they’re coming up to me and saying, ‘That’s incredible (getting your number retired). It’s well deserved, the way you played the game and did everything you had to for your team to win.’ To have those guys come up, I was very humbled,” Neil said.

In his address to the media Thursday, general manager Pierre Dorion opened with a salute to No. 25 for all he has given the Senators and this region.

“I’m honoured to be the GM when we’re retiring Chris Neil’s jersey,” Dorion said. “Chris, as a player, was a warrior, on and off the ice. He did everything to get the maximum out of himself. He’s someone that we’re so happy is still part of the organization (as VP of Business and Community Development). He’s someone our fans really identify with.

“I know if there was a war on, I’d want Chris by my side. We don’t beat the New York Rangers, the last time we made the playoffs (2017) if Chris Neil is not with us. He came into that series (Game 5) and changed the tone of the series.”

Alfredsson often said Neil used his physical tools in a positive way.

“He’s not just running out of his way to make sure he gets his hits,” Alfie said, during a series against the Rangers. “He picks his times pretty good and especially in the playoffs that’s pretty important.”

Of course, Neil is known around Ottawa as much for his community work as for his hockey history. Neil and his wife Cait have been affiliated with Roger’s House, a palliative care facility named in honour of the late Roger Neilson, for more than a decade.

As a year-round resident of the Nation’s Capital, Neil has long been a go-to guy for charity appearances and commitments involving the Senators, including work on behalf of the Ottawa Senators Foundation (relaunched last fall as the Senators Community Foundation).

Neil will still be around, a fixture in the organization.

Only his number No. 25 has gone. From the roster list, up to the heights.

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NHL roundup: Hurricanes beat Flyers 6-4 for seventh straight win

Published

9 hours ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Martin Necas scored a go-ahead goal with 29 seconds left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4 on Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hurricanes, who also got goals from Jack Roslovic, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake. Seth Jarvis added an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

Necas typically saves his game-winners for overtime, with nine in his career, but he was able to take care of business in regulation with his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Travis Konecny scored two goals and had two assists for the Flyers. Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia.

Aleksei Kolosov made 28 saves for the Flyers, who trailed 2-1, 3-1 and 4-3 but kept coming back. Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov struggled in net allowing four goals on just 16 shots.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

—

SABRES 5 SENATORS 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram and Tage Thompson scored 16 seconds apart to open the third period, and Buffalo snapped a three-game skid with a win over Ottawa.

Byram scored twice, JJ Peterka had two goals and an assist and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 37 saves.

Ridly Greig converted his own rebound in cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 with 7:31 left in the second period. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves in dropping to 1-4 in his past five starts.

Buffalo went up 3-1 on Byram’s second goal 21 seconds into the third period. The defenceman’s shot from inside the blue line sneaked through Ullmark, with the puck rolling down the goalie’s pad, dropping into the crease and trickling across the line. Thompson scored when he crashed the net, was knocked over by defender Jake Sanderson and was lying in the crease when Alex Tuch’s shot went in off his shoulder.

—

MAPLE LEAFS 4 BRUINS 0

TORONTO (AP) — Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in Toronto’s 4-0 victory over Boston.

Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists as Toronto connected three times on the power play. William Nylander and Matthew Knies added a goal and an assist each. Mitch Marner had two assists of his own. Steven Lorentz rounded out the scoring into the empty net.

The Leafs played without captain Auston Matthews, who is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops for Boston, which was coming off consecutive weekend shutouts of the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken.

Toronto’s porous 31st-ranked power play scored for the second time in as many games at 8:44 of the second period when Rielly fired through a screen. Nylander banked in his team-leading 10th goal of the season on another man advantage 1:14 later for a 2-0 lead.

The Bruins entered the game 8-0-0 in the regular season against their Atlantic Division rival dating back to Jan. 14, 2023.

—

FLAMES 3 CANADIENS 2 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Matt Coronato scored twice as Calgary came back to defeat Montreal in overtime.

Coronato tied the game with 2:46 remaining in regulation when he cruised into the slot and went off the post and in. He then buried the winning goal seven seconds into the extra period.

Connor Zary also scored for Calgary, which won its second game in seven outings. Dustin Wolf stopped 21 shots.

Joel Armia — with a short-handed goal — and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal (4-7-2). Armia also provided an assist, while Sam Montembeault made 32 saves as the Canadiens’ losing streak extended to four games.

Zary opened the scoring with his third 4:20 into the second period when he pounced on a loose puck in the slot and fired a shot past Montembeault.

Gallagher then slipped the puck between Wolf’s pads at 16:23 to level the score with his fifth of the season.

—

BLUES 3 LIGHTNING 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Oskar Sundqvist scored to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 3-2.

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for his 149th career win moving him past Jake Allen for second place in franchise history, just two wins behind Mike Liut’s 151.

Nick Perbix and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning who have lost three straight games.

Kyrou scored his fourth goal of the season 8:51 into the third period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Toropchenko scored his first goal of the season with 1:35 remaining in the second period to put St. Louis ahead 2-1 after Sundqvist tied the game with his first of the season 7:47 into the period.

—

ISLANDERS 4 PENGUINS 3 (SO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored the only goal in a shootout and New York rallied past Pittsburgh 4-3.

New York goalie Ilya Sorokin denied Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in the shootout and finished with 32 saves. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who trailed 3-1 midway through the third period.

Simon Holmstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the third for New York. Horvat had two assists.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead Pittsburgh. Crosby got his 598th career goal, and Michael Bunting also scored. Rakell added two assists.

Alex Nedeljkovich stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who have lost seven of nine. They won their previous two following a six-game skid.

—

KINGS 5 WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Trevor Lewis scored twice, Kevin Fiala added another on the power play and Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-1.

Warren Foegele and Quinton Byfield also scored for Los Angeles, which was playing the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-0 win in Nashville a night earlier. David Rittich made 23 saves for the Kings.

Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles in 2022 by Minnesota for a first-round pick draft pick and defenceman Brock Faber, scored his seventh goal of the season. He now has three goals and six assists in his last seven games against the Wild.

Minnesota, which had won three in a row, opened the scoring in the second period on Zach Bogosian’s first goal of the season. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for the Wild.

—

JETS 3 UTAH 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter scored twice in his 900th NHL career game and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves to help Winnipeg defeat Utah 3-0.

It was Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season and 39th of this career.

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets. Adam Lowry assisted on both goals by Niederreiter.

Utah ended a run of picking up points in three consecutive games (1-0-2).

Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots for Utah in its second stop on a four-game road trip.

Jets winger Kyle Connor had his franchise-record, season-opening points streak end at 12 games.

—

AVALANCHE 6 KRAKEN 3

DENVER (AP) — Arturri Lehkonen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play in his season debut and Nathan MacKinnon had five assists as Colorado beat Seattle 6-3.

Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko and Chris Wagner also scored for Colorado.

Cale Makar had two assists but the star defenceman barely played in the second half of the game and appeared to be slowed by an apparent injury during a brief shift.

MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games.

Lehkonen played for the first time since off-season shoulder surgery.

Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.

—

CANUCKS 5 DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brock Boeser, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist apiece, and Quinn Hughes recorded his 300th career assist in Vancouver’s victory over Anaheim.

Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson also scored and Hughes had three assists for the Canucks, who have won six of eight. Kevin Lankinen made 21 saves in Vancouver’s sixth consecutive win over the Ducks.

Olen Zellweger scored a power-play goal early in the first period for Anaheim, which has lost seven of nine. Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots.

Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko took shots from teammates again after the morning skate, and he could return to practice this week. The Southern California native and 2023-24 Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t played this season due to a knee injury incurred late last season.

—

SHARKS 2 BLUE JACKETS 1 (OT)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Wennberg scored 3:11 into overtime and San Jose celebrated the return of No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini with a win over Columbus.

Defenceman Jack Thompson scored his first career goal for the Sharks (4-8-2), who entered the night with the worst record in the NHL. San Jose has won four of five.

Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft, missed 12 games with a hip injury he sustained in the season opener Oct. 10 — an injury first incurred during the pre-season. Celebrini didn’t score and missed a shot early in overtime.

San Jose goalie Vitek Vanacek was fantastic in net, making 49 saves.

Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko scored for the second consecutive game. Columbus (5-6-1) has lost three straight.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

2 days ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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