“Good-bye Roger”


Horrible news in the hockey world this weekend. Horrible for all the fans of the sport everywhere. Former Flyers coach Roger Neilson passed away Saturday morning after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 69. Neilson was fired head coach of the Flyers despite attempts to gather his strength for a comeback. He had coached the team for about 2 years.

He passed away on the day of the NHL draft. The day when many young hopefuls hockey lives begin Roger left. Sadly the draft was just slightly less entertaining than this year’s Cup finals with the two dullest teams ever assembled. I’d of rather saw the Ducks and the Senators than see the Devils hoist the cup for the 3rd time in 9 years. However that’s not the point of the post.

Yesterday Bob Clarke showed what a very classless person he is yet again. What a horrible, terrible heartless piece of shit with no respect for anyone other than himself he can be. The NHL commissioner Bettman announced Roger’s departure from this Earth about and hour and half into the draft. Flyers at this point had already selected their first player. A few minutes later they had another draft pick. At this point almost every other NHL team had something nice to say about the beloved coach. Not Bob Clarke his former boss he didn’t say one word. Zippo. Nothing. Zilch. He was mum, mute, void of remorse or reflection.

Clarke claimed there were no hard feelings and the two remained friends after he fired Neilson. I imagine that is true since Roger didn’t from I know have a mean bone in his body. He was known as the players coach and treated everyone with respect. I am sure it was hard to not only to find out you had cancer but after trying to get back for the good of the team lose your job for almost no reason. However I doubt he held a grudge. He was from what I read a devout Christian who spend his summers over seas running a hockey camp for under prillevaged children. But did Clarke a supposed friend of Roger say one word his recent death? Nope. It was classless and inconsiderate. An absolute disgrace. His phony comments in the paper this morning made me want to vomit. I hope the bad boys at 6 10 WIP and the trouble makers at the Philly Daily News lay into him for this one. Then Clarke can get all mad when they report facts that make him look like an asshole again.


Oh yeah and Clarkie finished off his busy weekend by sending off Marty Murray to the Carolina Hurricanes for a used copy of Slapshot 2 on DVD. This trade I kind of saw coming since Lapointe pretty much took Murray’s roster spot. I hate to see one of the FEW players with heart be shipped away though. It just proves my theory Clarke hates players with any kind of speed or heart. He also doesn’t like it if his players were born anytime after Woodstock.

It’s a shame to lose Roger, but he put a up a good fight. Sadly he didn’t have a family or anything, but I bet his funeral his largely attended. Id imagine he would be all humble about the attention that he will receive. He didn’t like that sort of stuff. He just liked watching hockey all day long, whacky ties, and making a difference with players.


Neilson this past season was an assistant coach for the Senators who fell one game short of making the finals. They might not have gotten that far if it wasn’t for Roger’s inspirational speech before one of the games. Roger’s trademark curly locks were gone and he was frail in appearance however his determination and love for the game were still evident. Sadly it was his last chance to win a Stanley Cup.

He used to frequent Starview Diner quite often during his tenure here. That at the top was my number one stomping ground. I recall one time in particular when he sat at the both next to me and my friends and he was just reading notes and eating a bowl of soup. I really wanted to just go up to him and tell him how much I respected him. What a great coach I thought he was, and how I was confident, he could get the Flyers a Cup with in a year or so. However, for whatever reason I never even said, “Hello, Coach”. I even considered taking the crackers he left by his soup after he left for a cool story to tell. A cooler story would have been if I actually had a conversation with the man. Looking back it was dumb not to. He was loner and I am sure he would have liked to hear a kind word. I always regret not saying anything to Roger that day.

I would imagine Roger is in a better place right now.