Roger Neilson Roger Paul Neilson , ( June 16 , 1934 – June 21 , 2003 ) was a National Hockey League coach , and was responsible for many innovations in the game . Born in Toronto , Ontario , Neilson was as a university student at McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario , and graduated with a degree in Physical Education in both hockey and baseball . Coaching career . Neilson ' s coaching career began as head coach of the Ontario Hockey League ' s Peterborough Petes ( then the junior farm team of the Montreal Canadiens in Hamilton ) in 1966 , and remained for 10 years in Peterborough , Ontario , where he maintained a home until his death . He also worked at the University of Windsor with a summer hockey camp programme , which led to camps from Port Hope , Ontario to Israel . Neilson moved into professional hockey coaching in Dallas with the Dallas Black Hawks in the Central Hockey League in 1976 – 1977 . Neilson was head coach in the NHL for : In 1979 , Neilson was actually fired as head coach of the Maple Leafs by then - owner Harold Ballard . There was outrage throughout the players , media , and general public . Ballard then relented . Ballard wanted Neilson to enter the next game with a paper bag over his head ( to be " the mystery coach " ) but Neilson refused and coached the next game as nothing had happened . He was initially an assistant coach with Vancouver , but he took over as Head Coach after Harry Neale was suspended for taking part in an altercation with fans during a brawl in Quebec . When the team went unbeaten in the next seven games , he was given the job permanently . It was in his new capacity that Neilson led the team on its run to the Stanley Cup Finals . His tenure with the New York Rangers was also successful ; the highlight was coaching the team to the Presidents ' Trophy as the first place team in the league in 1992 . With Philadelphia , he led the team to first place in the Eastern Conference in 2000 , a position that the team would retain for the rest of the regular season . With the Flyers leading in the conference standings by the midseason All - Star Game , Neilson earned the honour of being head coach of the Eastern Conference All - Stars . Previously , he had coached the Campbell Conference All - Stars at the 1983 All - Star Game . In addition , he also worked for the Edmonton Oilers as an video analyst during the 1984 Stanley Cup Playoffs , which led to the Oilers ' first Stanley Cup championship , and Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant coach during his career . Retirement from hockey . Neilson had gone on medical leave from the Flyers just before the 2000 playoffs for cancer treatment but was later informed that he had been permanently replaced by Craig Ramsay . Neilson ' s unceremonial dismissal by Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke was widely lamented by fans and media as lacking class and respect . Neilson ' s doctors advised the Flyers that he lacked the strength to perform his duties as head coach . Neilson insisted on trying to return at the end of the first round of the playoffs . At the end of the season , Neilson was dismissed as head coach . He later conceded Clarke did the right thing and he never served as a head coach again . Neilson was then hired as an assistant coach of the Senators . During the 2002 – 2003 season , Head Coach Jacques Martin stepped away from the bench for 2 games , allowing Neilson to take the reins and become the ninth man to coach 1000 games . It was also the most successful season in Senators ' history up to that point , as they won the Presidents ' Trophy as the first place team in the league , and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals . As it was well known that Neilson ' s cancer was terminal when the Senators were eliminated in a tough seven game series , several players expressed their sadness at not being able to win the Stanley Cup for Neilson before he died . Neilson ' s overall regular season record was 460 wins , 381 losses , and 159 ties . Coaching legacy . Neilson dedicated his entire life to coaching and to hockey and affected the careers of thousands . He had no family and would stay up late into the night watching video and analysing games . Among his most well - known innovations was the use of videotape to analyze other teams , leading to the nickname " Captain Video " . He was also the first to use microphone headsets to communicate with his assistant coaches . Neilson was well known for closely reading the rule book looking for loopholes . During one particular game in the OHL his team was up one goal , but was down two men in a five on three situation for the last minute of the game . Realizing that more penalties could not be served under the existing rules , Neilson put too many men on the ice every ten seconds . The referees stopped the play and a faceoff was held relieving pressure on the defence . After this display , the rule was changed so that a call for too many men on the ice in a 5 - on - 3 situation in the last two minutes of regulation or in overtime now results in a penalty shot . Neilson also discovered that if he put a defenceman in net instead of a goalie during a penalty shot , the defenceman could rush the attacker and cut down the latter ' s angle of shot , greatly reducing the chances of a goal . Today the rule states that a team must use a goalie in net for a penalty shot . One game during a time - out , Neilson told his goaltender , “ . . . when we pull you , just leave your goal stick lying in the crease . ” When the other team gained possession , they sent the puck the length of the ice toward the open net , only to deflect wide when it hit the goal stick lying in the crease . The rule was changed the next season so that a goal would be awarded in such a situation . Neilson also broke the rules , in a sense , when he didn ' t like what was going on on the ice . As the Canucks coach during a 1982 playoff game against the Chicago Blackhawks , he felt his team was unfairly penalized on several occasions during the third period . He took a trainer ' s white towel and held it on a hockey stick , as if to wave a white flag . Three other Canucks players did the same thing , and all were ejected from the game . By doing this , Neilson inadvertently started an NHL tradition . Canucks fans waved white towels by the thousands at the next game , a playoff tradition that continues to this day and that is widely copied by other hockey teams and by other sports as well . Life after hockey . He was awarded a Doctor of Laws by McMaster University in 2001 . He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in November 2002 . He was also appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2002 . The City of Peterborough renamed George Street South " Roger Neilson Way " opposite the Memorial Centre Arena in 2003 ; the address of the Arena was supposed to be changed to " 1 Roger Neilson Way " . The Ottawa Senators have named their coaches office at Scotiabank Place " The Roger Neilson Room " . The City of Ottawa renamed their Minor Peewee AAA Hockey Division after Neilson in 2005 . Also in 2005 , the Ontario Hockey League created an award for the top academic player attending college or university and named it the Roger Neilson Memorial Award . In 1999 , Neilson was diagnosed with bone cancer , which spread to become skin cancer in 2001 . He died on June 21 , 2003 , only five days after his 69th birthday , and the funeral was held in Peterborough . Shortly after his death , the Ottawa Senators Foundation announced plans to build Roger ' s House / La maison de Roger , a pediatric palliative care facility built in his memory on the grounds of the Children ' s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa . The building was opened on April 21 , 2006 , by the Premier of Ontario , Dalton McGuinty . In September 2004 , a new elementary school in Peterborough named Roger Neilson Public School opened . The name was chosen because of Roger ' s commitment to teaching and that Roger exemplified the qualities of the Character Education program of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board .