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TODAY’S TRAINING INSPIRATION:
CAM NEELY

Today’s Colin Timberlake Training Inspiration is a man who may go down as the most hard-driving and relentless man in hockey history.

Cam Neely’s rare combination of skill, toughness and grit was an impetus for the media to take the term “power forward” and apply it to hockey.

Since Cam Neely’s reign as the toughest skill player in the league, “power forward” has become a regular term in hockey lore, applied to other forwards of similar mold such as Peter Forsberg and Todd Bertuzzi.

Neely achieved one of the rarest of feats when he scored 50 goals in 44 games during the 1993-94 season. Only a select few players have ever scored 50 goals in 50 games and only Wayne Gretzky has scored 50 goals in less games than Neely.

Few players left nothing on the ice the way Neely did, and he became an enduring fan favorite and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a result. His #8 jersey hangs in the rafters in Boston, never to be worn by a Bruin again.

Neely played a critical role in leading the Bruins to two Stanley Cup finals, and for all his skill and toughness, he will likely be remembered best for the pain through he which he continually played as his knees deteriorated from years of brutal punishment on the ice.

In the 1991 playoffs, he had his knee injured in two separate games (made possible only by his playing on the already-injured knee after the first incident). As a result, he developed an exceedingly painful calcification disorder in his knee that made any use of the leg painful.

Nonetheless, he staged several comebacks through the pain, playing when he could, sometimes only in every second game in order to allow the knee damage from a single day of use to subside in order to step back onto the ice for his next performance.

For his enduring efforts to fight his way back onto the ice, he was awarded the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1994, given to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance and dedication to hockey.

Neely scored 395 goals in only 726 games, one of the highest goals-per-game ratios in league history. His 694 career points had him at nearly a point a game, a rate that he would have easily passed had he been able to play more games at the height of his prime.

In Neely’s case, the star that burned twice as bright burned half as long, but burn brightly it did.

TODAY: CHEST (5-5-5 Tempo, 90 Second Rests)
and CARDIO

FLAT DUMBBELL FLYES (5 sets)
35 x 5
35 x 4
35 x 3
35 x 4
35 x 3

FLAT DUMBBELL PRESS (3 sets)
35 x 6
35 x 5
35 x 5

THREE MILE RUN
- Relaxed Pace, Approx. 27:00

TRAINING NOTES

Total Sets (Chest): 8

BACK TO Index of Inspirational Role Models for Training

It is the only rookie card presently in existence where a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame is wearing a Vancouver Canucks uniform, yet it serves as a painful reminder to Canucks fans of a trade that is (perhaps unfairly) regarded as one of the most lopsided in league history.

While the trade did result in Vancouver losing an undeveloped player who would go on to become one of the grittiest players in league history and one of the remarkably few to ever score 50 goals in 50 games, it is largely forgotten that the player the Canucks got in return (Barry Pederson) had recently enjoyed two 100-point seasons with the Boston Bruins.

Even in his Bruins career, Neely never reached this mark, though perpetual injuries were largely to blame. An additional burn to the Canucks was that they threw their 1st Round (3rd overall) draft pick into the deal, which ultimately materialized into Glen Wesley, who would play over 1400 NHL games.

In three years with the Canucks, after being drafted 9th overall, Neely never topped 21 goals or 39 points. The management decided to go in a different direction, acquiring some proven scoring, and almost immediately upon arriving in Boston, Cam Neely helped lead the Bruins to two Stanley Cup finals in 1988 and 1990.

Neely also won the Bill Masterton Trophy for his perseverance and dedication to hockey, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.

The 1984-85 production run of O-Pee-Chee and Topps hockey cards is actually one of the more aesthetically pleasing sets, with some creativity and workmanship evident in the design. This set is not only pleasing to the eye but includes the rookie cards of several future greats, including Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings), Pat LaFontaine (New York Islanders), Pat Verbeek (New Jersey Devils), Doug Gilmour (St. Louis Blues), Chris Chelios (Montreal Canadiens), and both Dave Andreychuk and Tom Barrasso (Buffalo Sabres).