 Cameron
"Cam" Neely was born on June 6 1965, in Comox, British Columbia. He had a high impact start to his junior career scoring
126 points in 1982-83 with the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League. Neely stood out on a Portland team loaded with
talent and helped them win the Memorial Cup as Canadian junior hockey champions. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the
first round, 9th overall in the 1983 NHL amateur entry draft.
Cam Neely began his career with the Canucks in 1983 and played three seasons on the west coast. He proved to be a good power forward
who could mix it up but wasn't quite the polished scorer he had shown to be in the minors. In June 1986, the big right winger was
dealt to the Boston Bruins along with a draft choice for Barry Pederson. The deal suited both clubs since Neely wasn't pleased
with Canucks coach Tom Watt and Pederson was involved in a contract dispute with Bruins' owner Harry Sinden.
 Neely
turned things around under the tutiledge of former hockey tough guy Terry O'Reilly, scoring 36 goals in 1986-87. The Bruins had successfull regular seasons though
couldn't get very far in the playoffs as the great one and the Oilers were running roughshot over the league. Neely followed up his early
success with a couple of years of 40+ and a couple of 50+ goal years. During the 1989-90 season he won his second team scoring
title and led team in goals for the fourth straight season with 55, setting the team record for goals by a winger and became
the first 50-goal scorer in Bruins history since Rick Middleton in 1981-82.
In 1990-91 he again scored over 50 goals, becoming only the second Bruin in club history to record consecutive 50 goal seasons and also set
a career-high in assists along the way. The 1991 playoffs is what began Cam's injury woes after he took a cheap hit from
Pittsburgh's Ulf Samuelsson. Mario Lemieux and the Pens won the Stanley cup but the low hit caused Cam to develop a condition
known as myositis ossificans, where a portion of the muscle in his thigh turned to bone and later that season went through
knee surgery related to the original blow. He missed most of the 1992-93 NHL season rehabing from the knee surgery.
Neely bounced back in 1993-94 with 50 goals in only 49 games and was presented with the Bill Masterton trophy for his hard work
in coming back from the serious injuries. He played two more seasons in the NHL but was never quite the same after the injury. He
never played close to a full season and officially retired from the game after the 1995-96 NHL season. Over the years, Cam combined
with the likes of Ray Bourque, Craig Janney, Adam Oates, Glen Wesley,
Rick Middleton and Joe Juneau to thrill many Bruin fans. Cam was given a great honor by being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.
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