| Neil Colville | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1967 | |||
 Mac Colville, Neil Colville andAlex Shibicky, 1938. All three are ranked in the 2009 book100 Ranger Greats.[1] | |||
| 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 professionalice hockey player. Born inEdmonton, Alberta, he played for theNew York Rangers in theNational Hockey League with his brotherMac, winning theStanley Cup in 1940.[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 andAlex Shibicky, where he played untilWorld War II. During the war, he and his brother were stationed inOttawa and played on the army'sOttawa Commandos team, winning theAllan Cup in 1942.
After the war, they both returned the Rangers, this time asdefencemen, 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.
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 alongsideBert 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 theHockey Hall of Fame in 1967. He died in 1987 and there is amemorial bench in his honor at the Gary Point Park inSteveston, British Columbia.
In the 2009 book100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Colville at No. 22 all-time of the901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first82 seasons.[1]
| 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 | ||||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Post season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | Pts | Division rank | Result | ||
| New York Rangers | 1950–51 | 70 | 20 | 29 | 21 | 61 | 5th inNHL | Missed playoffs |
| New York Rangers | 1951–52 | 23 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 5th in NHL | Fired |
| NHL Totals | 93 | 26 | 41 | 26 | 78 | |||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | New York Rangers captain 1945–49 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head coach of the New York Rangers 1950–51 | Succeeded by |