Neil Colville
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1967
Born (1914-08-04)August 4, 1914
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Died December 26, 1987(1987-12-26) (aged 73)
Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Centre/Defence
Shot Right
Played for New York Rangers
Playing career 1934–1950

Neil McNeil Colville (August 4, 1914 – December 26, 1987) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League with his brother Mac, winning the Stanley Cup in 1940.[1]

Playing career

Mac Colville, Neil Colville (center) and Alex Shibicky in 1938 photo. All three are ranked in the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats.[2]

Colville joined the Rangers' farm team in 1934 and quickly made his way to the pros by 1936, centreing the "Bread Line" with his brother and Alex Shibicky, where he played until World War II. During the war, he and his brother were stationed in Ottawa and played on the army's Ottawa Commandos team, winning the Allan Cup in 1942.

After the war, they both returned the Rangers, this time as defencemen, the first pairs of brothers to ever do so in the NHL. Neil was adept at both defence and offense, and was the second player to be named to All-Star Teams as both a forward and a defenseman, behind Dit Clapper.

He retired in 1949 and became the Rangers' youngest coach a year later, but he was forced to resign due to health problems halfway through his second season.

Post-playing career

In the 1950s, Colville was one of the primary founding investors in what would become Northern Television Systems, WHTV, in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. Colville eventually moved from Vancouver, B.C. to Whitehorse in order to run the small four-channel station alongside Bert Wybrew. He slept in a bunk in the studio and learned to do everything from fixing the equipment to hosting the news casts. Filling the air time without the benefit of extensive broadcasting infrastructure was at times difficult, and the station would run footage of downtown's Main Street or do live broadcasts of a goldfish bowl to fill the hours.[3]

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967. He died in 1987 and there is a memorial bench in his honor at the Gary Point Park in Steveston, British Columbia.

In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Colville at No. 22 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1929–30 Edmonton Enarcos EJrHL 12 1 0 1 — — — — — —
1930–31 Edmonton Canadians EJrHL 13 2 0 2 8 — — — — —
1931–32 Edmonton Poolers EJrHL 11 7 3 10 — 4 2 1 3 0
1931–32 Edmonton Poolers M-Cup — — — — — 5 2 0 2 2
1932–33 Edmonton Athletic Club EJrHL 11 — — — 10 3 0 0 0 2
1933–34 Edmonton Athletic Club EJrHL 9 14 4 18 13 2 4 2 6 5
1933–34 Edmonton Athletic Club M-Cup — — — — — 12 15 6 21 4
1934–35 New York Crescents EAHL 21 11 35 16 8 8 4 12 2
1935–36 New York Rangers NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1935–36 Philadelphia Ramblers Can-Am 35 15 16 31 8 4 0 2 2 0
1936–37 New York Rangers NHL 45 10 18 28 33 9 3 3 6 0
1937–38 New York Rangers NHL 45 17 19 36 11 3 0 1 1 0
1938–39 New York Rangers NHL 47 18 19 37 12 7 0 2 2 2
1939–40 New York Rangers NHL 48 19 19 38 22 12 2 7 9 18
1940–41 New York Rangers NHL 48 14 28 42 28 3 1 1 2 0
1941–42 New York Rangers NHL 48 8 25 33 37 6 0 5 5 6
1942–43 Ottawa Commandos QSHL 22 12 30 42 32 — — — — —
1942–43 Ottawa Army OCHL 12 11 12 23 6 — — — — —
1942–43 Ottawa Commandos Al-Cup — — — — — 12 14 14 28 17
1944–45 New York Rangers NHL 4 0 1 1 2 — — — — —
1944–45 Winnipeg RCAF WNDHL 6 5 4 9 4 — — — — —
1944–45 Ottawa Commandos OCHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1944–45 Quebec Aces QSHL 5 1 2 3 0 7 2 5 7 4
1944–45 Quebec Aces Al-Cup — — — — — 3 0 3 3 0
1945–46 New York Rangers NHL 49 5 4 9 25 — — — — —
1946–47 New York Rangers NHL 60 4 16 20 16 — — — — —
1947–48 New York Rangers NHL 55 4 12 16 25 6 1 0 1 6
1948–49 New York Rangers NHL 14 0 5 5 2 — — — — —
1948–49 New Haven Ramblers AHL 11 0 3 3 8 — — — — —
1949–50 New Haven Ramblers AHL 17 3 4 7 13 — — — — —
NHL totals 464 99 166 265 213 46 7 19 26 32

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L T Pts Division rank Result
New York Rangers 1950–51 70 20 29 21 61 5th in NHL Missed playoffs
New York Rangers 1951–52 23 6 12 5 17 5th in NHL Fired
NHL Totals 93 26 41 26 78

See also

References

  1. ^ Blevins, David (2012). The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810861305.
  2. ^ a b Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. p. 168. ISBN 978-0470736197.
  3. ^ From Cablecaster magazine, November 2002