Cam Neely left hockey before he wanted to, but he did enough during a decade in Boston to become the 10th player to have his number retired by the Bruins.
Neely's No. 8 was raised to the rafters Monday night before the Bruins played Buffalo. He came out of the locker room, after taking his jersey from captain Joe Thornton, and skated a lap around the ice.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"It was an incredible feeling, the response from the crowd," the 38-year-old Neely said. "I was just trying to keep it together. That was really emotional just doing the lap and seeing the response from everybody. It's something I'll never forget."
PHOTO: REUTERS
The injury problems that eventually forced a premature retirement began in 1991 when he hurt his thigh during the Eastern Conference finals. Neely played in just 22 games over the next two seasons because of thigh and knee injuries.
He finally returned for the 1993-1994 season, when he scored his 50th goal in the 44th game. Wayne Gretzky was the only player to reach the mark faster.
However, after two more seasons, Neely was forced to quit on Sept. 5, 1996, at age 31 because of chronic hip problems.
"My greatest regret is that I didn't play longer," said Neely, a five-time All-Star. "But it's something I really couldn't control."
Neely brought a physical style to Boston that quickly endeared him to fans after he was acquired from Vancouver on June 6, 1986 -- his 21st birthday. He led the Bruins in scoring seven times.
"If you talk about the power forwards in hockey, Cam was beyond that," Bruins assistant coach Wayne Cashman said. "He was the ultimate power forward. He did everything and really carried the Bruins tradition on."
One of the speakers was actor Michael J. Fox, Neely's longtime friend.
"I think you're the biggest, baddest Bruin of them all," Fox said.
In the 1989-1990 season, Neely became the fifth Bruins player to score more than 50 goals and finished with 55. The following season he scored 51, joining Phil Esposito as the only Bruins to post consecutive 50-goal campaigns.
"I'm truly honored to be here," Neely said Monday during a speech that lasted three minutes. "As a Bruin, it's good to be home."
Neely's goals-per-game average of .544 is tied for 11th highest in NHL history, and his playoff average of .613 goals-per-game is fourth behind Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Maurice Richard.
"I considered myself a physical player who was able to score because of the way I played," he said. "If I strayed away from being physical, my game suffered."
Neely finished his Bruins career with 344 goals and 590 points in 525 regular-season games. He also racked up 921 penalty minutes.
"At times I wish I could still play," Neely said. "I'd like to go out there and bang bodies. It was nice to be able to do that legally for years."
Neely is also Boston's leading playoff scorer with 55 goals. The Bruins made the Stanley Cup Finals twice during his tenure, losing to the Edmonton Oilers both times.
His number joined Eddie Shore (2), Lionel Hitchman (3), Bobby Orr (4), Aubrey "Dit" Clapper, Esposito (7), John Bucyk (9), Milt Schmidt (15), Terry O'Reilly (24) and Ray Bourque (77).
Penguins 2, Flyers 1
Dick Tarnstrom and Tom Kostopoulos scored power-play goals, and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off Philadelphia 2-1 Monday night, extending the Flyers' winless streak to five games (0-4-1).
Jean-Sebastien Aubin made 33 saves for the Penguins, who dropped four of their previous five games.
Mike Comrie scored for the Flyers, who had gone 127 minutes, 31 seconds without a goal. Philadelphia has been outscored 16-6 during its winless streak, but still leads the Atlantic Division by three points over New Jersey.
Bruins 4, Sabres 3
In Boston, Sergei Samsonov's tiebreaking goal with 7:12 remaining lifted Boston past Buffalo.
Boston has won four straight and is 5-0-1 in its last six games.
After Jason Botterill gave Buffalo a 3-1 lead 2:35 into the second, the Bruins scored three unanswered goals including a pair from rookie Patrice Bergeron. Joe Thornton also scored.
Jochen Hecht and Daniel Briere had the other goals for Buffalo.
Boston retired Cam Neely's No. 8 in a pregame ceremony that made him the 10th Bruins player so honored.
Predators 3, Wild 3
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Sergei Zholtok scored on a slap shot with 13.9 seconds left in the third period to move Minnesota into a tie with Nashville.
The Wild controlled the game, outshooting the Predators 39-23, but Minnesota trailed 3-2 after Vladimir Orszagh's goal midway through the third.
Tomas Vokoun made 36 saves for Nashville in his return from a two-game absence caused by the flu.
Scott Hartnell and Martin Erat also scored for Nashville, off to the best start in the team's six-year history.
Richard Park and Filip Kuba scored for the Wild, 1-3-7 in their last 11 games.
Blues 7, Blackhawks 4
In St. Louis, Chris Pronger scored twice and added an assist, and Mike Danton added two goals as St. Louis prolonged Chicago's road woes.
Chicago is winless in 14 straight on the road (0-13-0-1) and hasn't won away from home since beating Nashville on Nov. 7
Christian Backman, Pavol Demitra, Scott Mellanby, Ryan Johnson and Mike Danton also scored for St. Louis. Mark Bell, Bryan Berard, Keith Calder and Alexei Zhamnov had the Chicago goals.
St. Louis' Chris Osgood allowed four goals on 14 shots and was pulled for Reinhard Divis. Chicago's Michael Leighton got the hook in favor of Steve Passmore after giving up four goals on 16 shots.
suspensions
NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell handed out two-game suspensions to New York Rangers forward Chris Simon and Detroit defenseman Mathieu Schneider, and a one-game ban to Tampa Bay forward Vincent Lecavalier.
Simon was punished Monday for cross-checking Tampa Bay's Ruslan Fedotenko and then jumping on him and punching him during the first period of the Lightning's 2-1 overtime victory Sunday.
He was given a double minor for cross-checking and roughing and will miss home games Tuesday against the New York Islanders, and Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. Simon will forfeit US$16,666.66 in salary.
In the same game, Lecavalier kicked New York defenseman Darius Kasparaitis in the third period but didn't receive a penalty. But he was suspended for Tuesday's game at Pittsburgh and will lose US$14,166.66 in salary.
Schneider's ban stemmed from a game Saturday in which he cross-checked Boston forward Glen Murray in the neck area with his stick during the third period of the Bruins' 2-1 victory.
Schneider also wasn't penalized on the ice, but will sit out Wednesday against Chicago and Friday versus Phoenix -- forfeiting US$38,888.88 in salary.
All of the salary losses will go to the players emergency assistance fund.
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