Harold Watson Neale (born March 9, 1937) is a Canadian retired

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, NHL and WHA coach and general manager, and ice hockey broadcaster.

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Neale got his head coaching start at

Hill Park Secondary School Hill Park Secondary School was the oldest high school on the Hamilton Mountain and was a member of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The school, located at 465 East 16th Street in Hamilton, was founded in 1955 as a fully composite hi ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

, where he also taught social studies and physical education. In 1966, he replaced

Glen Sonmor Glen Robert Sonmor (April 22, 1929 – December 14, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, scout and coach. He played 28 games in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers from 1953 to 1955, though most of his career was ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. While at Ohio State, he was a physical fitness trainer for the Ohio State football team. He coached the Buckeyes for four seasons compiling a 49-48-3 record. He left Ohio State in 1970 to coach junior hockey in Hamilton. Neale was hired as assistant coach of the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA in 1972. He replaced Sonmor again as head coach late in the 1972–73 season. He remained head coach until the Fighting Saints franchise folded during the 1975–76 season. Following Minnesota, Neale remained in the WHA as head coach of the

New England Whalers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

for two seasons from 1976 to 1978. He coached the Whalers to the Avco Cup Finals where they lost to the

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, p ...

. Between stints at Minnesota and New England, Neale was an assistant coach for the U.S. team in the

1976 Canada Cup The 1976 Canada Cup was an international ice hockey tournament held September 2 to 15, 1976, in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Quebec City in Canada as well as in Philadelphia, in the United States. It was the first of five Canada Cup to ...

. Hired by the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

in 1978, Neale coached the Canucks for almost four seasons. Late in the 1981–82 season, Neale was involved in an altercation with fans during a game in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

against the Nordiques and was suspended for ten games. Assistant coach

Roger Neilson Roger Paul Neilson, (June 16, 1934 – June 21, 2003) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, most notably in the NHL, where he served with eight teams in a checkered career. Known as Captain Video because of his technological contributi ...

was promoted to interim coach during the suspension. When the Canucks lost only once in ten games, Neilson was given the job full-time as the team advanced to the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals. At season's end, Neale was promoted to general manager (an arrangement made prior to the suspension). Neale returned to the Canucks bench in January 1984 after firing Neilson and again in November 1984 after firing

Bill LaForge Bill LaForge (September 2, 1951 – June 19, 2005) was a Canadian ice hockey head coach. LaForge briefly coached the Vancouver Canucks in National Hockey League, but enjoyed more success in junior ice hockey with Western Hockey League and the On ...

twenty games into the season. The Canucks fired Neale from his posts as vice-president, general manager, and head coach in April 1985. The Detroit Red Wings hired Neale prior to the 1985–86 season. However, after a poor start, Neale was fired after 35 games.

Head coaching record

College

WHA

NHL

Broadcast career

During his coaching and managerial career, he sometimes worked for ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'' as an analyst in the playoffs, in the event his team missed the playoffs or eliminated from Stanley Cup contention. He then began working as a broadcaster full-time in 1986. That year, he was first teamed with play-by-play man Bob Cole on CBC. Together, the pair broadcast 20 Stanley Cup Finals. In the playoffs, when Cole was working with other color commentators, he also worked with

Don Wittman Donald Rae Wittman (October 9, 1936 – January 19, 2008) was a Canadian sportscaster. Early life and education Born in Herbert, Saskatchewan, Wittman attended the University of Saskatchewan and got his start in the field of broadcasting a ...

Chris Cuthbert Chris Cuthbert (born September 20, 1957) is a Canadian sportscaster. He is the lead play-by-play commentator for ''NHL on Sportsnet'' and ''Hockey Night in Canada'', since 2021. Formerly, he worked for TSN, NBC, and CBC Sports in a multitude of ...

, and Jim Hughson. During this time, he also provided colour commentary for locally televised

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

games. During his tenure, he was paired with play-by-play broadcasters Jim Hughson,

Ken Daniels Ken Daniels is a Canadian sportscaster. Currently the play-by-play announcer for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL on Bally Sports Detroit, entering his 19th season as the voice of the Red Wings, he is best known as a sportscaster with CBC Sp ...

Jiggs McDonald John Kenneth "Jiggs" McDonald (born November 28, 1938) is a sportscaster who has done play-by-play announcing for NHL games for more than 50 years. In 1990, McDonald received the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Biograph ...

, and Joe Bowen. In addition, Neale occasionally worked on

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

and

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

broadcasts. He left the Toronto telecasts after the 2006–07 season to join the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

broadcast team. As a colour commentator, Neale has covered the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 2002, and

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

and the

1996 World Cup of Hockey The first World Cup of Hockey ( WCH), or ''1996 World Cup of Hockey'', replaced the Canada Cup as one of the premier championships for professional ice hockey. Inaugural ''World Cup of Hockey'' The first edition of the Cup featured eight teams d ...

and 2004 for CBC. He is known for the same sense of humour he was famous for as a coach, often referring to the puck as "..bouncing like an Indian Rubber (

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

) ball", as well as for his estimations of exact distances on the ice. Neale spent five seasons, from 2007–08 to 2011–12, as the colour commentator for the

serving alongside

Rick Jeanneret John Richard Jeanneret (born July 23, 1942)Pergament, Alan (October 5, 2014)‘I feel like an American,’ Jeanneret says, as he gets cancer treatment here ''The Buffalo News''. Retrieved October 5, 2014. “Jeanneret received his first radiatio ...

, a personal friend of Neale's and fellow

Foster Hewitt Memorial Award The Foster Hewitt Memorial Award is an annual accolade honoring a member of the ice hockey broadcasting world. It was named for the Canadian hockey radio broadcaster and newspaper journalist Foster Hewitt, and it has been presented every year at a ...

winner. He spent the 2012–13 season as a studio analyst for the Sabres' pregame show and intermission reports. During the 2013–14 season, Neale served as colour commentator for Toronto Maple Leafs broadcasts on Leafs TV. He retired at the end of the 2013–14 season. On March 25, 2022 Neale served as colour commentator for the

, once again alongside

in a guest appearance, for a game involving the

and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

during the first and second periods.

Honours

In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the

World Hockey Association Hall of Fame The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA) which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league. Officially partnered with the United Stat ...

in the coaching category. In 2013, Neale received the

and thus was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Neale grew up in Sarnia, Ontario and moved to East Amherst, New York in 1987. He has five children.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neale, Harry 1937 births Living people Buffalo Sabres announcers Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian television sportscasters Detroit Red Wings coaches Edmonton Oilers announcers Foster Hewitt Memorial Award winners Ice hockey people from Ontario Memorial Cup winners Minnesota Fighting Saints coaches National Hockey League broadcasters New England Whalers coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey coaches Sportspeople from Sarnia Toronto Maple Leafs announcers Toronto Marlboros players Vancouver Canucks coaches Vancouver Canucks general managers World Hockey Association coaches