Neil Colville

Neil McNeil Colville (August 4, 1914 - December 26, 1987) was a professional ice hockey player. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, he played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League with his brother Mac, winning the Stanley Cup in 1940.

• Position: centre
• Height: 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
• Weight: 180 lbs (82 kg)

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 and Alex Shibicky, where he played until World War II. During the war, he and his brother were stationed in Ottawa and played on the army's Ottawa Commandos team, winning the Allan Cup in 1942.

After the war, they both returned the Rangers, this time as defencemen, the first pairs of brothers to ever do so in the NHL. Neil was just as good at defence as he was on offense, becoming the first player to be named to All-Star Teams as both a forward and a defenceman.

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. 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. ^[1]

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1967. He died in 1987 and there is a memorial bench in his honor at the Gary Point Park in Steveston, British Columbia.

In 2009, Colville was ranked No. 22 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons).

Career statistics

Season	Club	League	REGULAR SEASON						PLAYOFFS
			GP	G	A	TP	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	TP	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	24	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
1943–44
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	QSHL	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

References

1. ^ From Cablecaster magazine, November 2002

External links

• Neil Colville's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Find-A-Grave profile for Neil Colville

Preceded by Ott Heller

New York Rangers captain 1945-49

Succeeded by Buddy O'Connor

Persondata
Name	Colville, Neil
Alternative names
Short description	Professional ice hockey player
Date of birth	August 4, 1914
Place of birth	Edmonton, Alberta
Date of death	December 26, 1987
Place of death