Panthers to dedicate press box to Roger Neilson
The Florida Panthers announced Tuesday morning that they will dedicate the press box at the BB&T Center to the late Roger Neilson.
Neilson was named the first head coach of the Panthers during their inaugural season in 1993, leading them to a NHL points record for a first-year club with a 33-34-17 record.
Other head-coaching jobs Neilson held include Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia Flyers, and an assistant coaching job with the Ottawa Senators.
He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in December 1999, continuing coaching between treatments until succumbing to his illness on June 21, 2003.
Among his accolades, Neilson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002 as well as awarded the Order of Canada the same year.
The Ottawa Senators built Roger's House in his honor in 2006 on the grounds of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario as a pediatric care facility, as well as named the coaches office at Scotiabank Place "The Roger Neilson Room."
Neilson also has a statue outside Rogers Arena in Vancouver honoring him and the infamous "white towel" of 1982.