New York Rangers Jim Neilson (In Memoriam)
James Anthony Neilson (November 28, 1940- November 6, 2020) was a professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers of the NHL. Neilson also had stopped with the California Golden Seals and Cleveland Barons during his NHL career. Neilson played his last season of pro hockey in 1978-1979, with the Edmonton Oilers of the WHA.
Neilson was born in Big River, Saskatchewan. At the age of 5, Neilson and his two sisters were sent to St. Patrick’s Orphanage in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Over the course of 12 years at the orphanage, Neilson learned the hockey skills that he would need to develop into an NHL caliber player. He played junior hockey with the Prince Albert Mintos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League from 1958-1961. He played one season of pro hockey with the Kitchener Beavers of the Eastern Professional Hockey League and was named EPHL rookie of the year.
New York Rangers
Upon turning 22 years of age, the New York Rangers came calling, and in 1962 Jim “Chief” Neilson was a Blueshirt. Jim found himself playing defense with Rangers star Rod Seiling. At the time of Neilson joining the Broadway Blueshirts, the team was in a rebuilding phase. Neilson and Seiling were integral parts of the Ranger rebuild, and with the addition of Brad Park in 1968, the Rangers were a team on the rise. By 1972-1973 the Rangers were contending for the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1950; the boys from broadway were in the Cup Final, where they lost six games to the Boston Bruins. By this time, Neilson was an established NHLer, having played in two NHL All-Star Games, 1967 and 1971.
In 1974 Neilson was claimed by the California Golden Seals in the NHL Interleague Draft. He played two seasons with the Seals and another two seasons with the Cleveland Barons after the franchise left Oakland for Cleveland in 1976. the “Chief” would close out his hockey career in the WHA playing alongside a skinny 17-year-old kid named Wayne Gretzky.
In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, Neilson was ranked at No. 42 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers.
Neilson was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
He played a total of 1023 games in the NHL, scoring 69 goals and 299 assists.
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