THIS DATE IN HISTORY: July 25
1977: Roger Neilson gets his first job as an NHL coach when he's hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs, replacing Red Kelly.
Neilson comes to Toronto after spending 10 seasons as coach of Peterborough of the Ontario Hockey League and one as an assistant with Dallas of the Central Hockey League. He leads the Maple Leafs to the semifinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first season as coach, but is fired after Toronto goes 34-33-13 in 1978-79. Neilson goes on to coach seven other NHL teams and finishes his career in 2001-02 with a 460-378-159-3 record in exactly 1,000 games. His only trip to the Stanley Cup Final comes as interim coach with the Vancouver Canucks in 1982; however, the Canucks are swept by the New York Islanders.
Neilson becomes known as "Captain Video" because he's one of the first coaches to use videotape to analyze opponents. He also pioneers the use of headsets with microphones to communicate with his assistant coaches. He dedicates his life to hockey and is regarded as one of the best teachers in the sport.
Neilson is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November 2002, a few months before he dies of cancer on June 21, 2003.
MORE MOMENTS
1975: Evgeni Nabokov, who holds many of the San Jose Sharks records for goaltenders, is born in Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, then a part of the Soviet Union. The Sharks take a flyer on Nabokov in the ninth round (No. 219) of the 1994 NHL Draft. He comes to North America in 1997 and spends most of the next three seasons in the minor leagues before being promoted to the NHL for 11 games in 1999-2000. Nabokov wins the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 2000-01 (32-21-7, 2.19 goals-against average, .915 save percentage, six shutouts), is named a First-Team All-Star in 2007-08, when he leads the NHL with 46 victories and spends 10 seasons with the Sharks. Beginning in 2011, he spends three seasons with the New York Islanders and joins the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2014-15 season before announcing his retirement on Feb. 11, 2015. He has more wins (293), shutouts (50) and games played (563) than any goalie in Sharks history, and ends his career with 353 victories, 59 shutouts and a goals-against average of 2.44.
1990: The Minnesota North Stars sign free agent left wing Brian Propp, one of the NHL's most consistent scorers of the 1980s when he played for the Philadelphia Flyers. Propp has 26 goals and 73 points in his first season with Minnesota, then contributes eight goals and 23 points in 23 games in the North Stars' run to the Stanley Cup Final. He retires after the 1993-94 season with 425 goals and 1,004 points in 1,016 NHL games, as well as 64 goals and 148 points in 160 playoff games.
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