Neil Little
| Neil Little | |||
|---|---|---|---|
.jpg/1280px-Neil_Little_(39832090314).jpg) Neil in 2002 | |||
| Born | December 18, 1971 Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Left | ||
| Played for | NHL Philadelphia Flyers AHL Hershey Bears Philadelphia Phantoms IHL Grand Rapids Griffins ECHL Johnstown Chiefs SM-liiga Espoo Blues | ||
| NHL draft | 226th overall, 1991 Philadelphia Flyers | ||
| Playing career | 1994–2006 | ||
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Leslie Neil Little, Jr. (born December 18, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organization nearly his entire professional career, helping backstop the Philadelphia Phantoms to two Calder Cup championships and playing in two career National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Flyers. Until 2015, he was an amateur scout for the Flyers.[1] He is now a scout for the NHL Montreal Canadiens.
Playing career
Little played 4 seasons for R.P.I. (NCAA Div 1, ECAC) before starting a professional career.
Little has played for the Hershey Bears and Philadelphia Phantoms in the AHL, as well as playing two NHL games for the Philadelphia Flyers. He signed with the Espoo Blues in the Finnish SM-liiga for the 2005–06 season, played there until Christmas, then finished the season in Geneva, Switzerland.
On December 28, 2003, he was the "flying goalie" in a brawl between the Phantoms and the Binghamton Senators as several players from the two teams were fighting next to the Senators' net, Little skated across the rink and dove into the crowd.[2][3]
Despite only playing two career games with the Philadelphia Flyers, Little was named as one of the Flyers goaltenders for the 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni game.[4]
Little is also the founder of ProHockeyLaunch.com which is an evaluation and mentorship company for up-and-coming young hockey players.
Coaching career
Following his playing career, Little was named an assistant coach/goaltending development coach for the Philadelphia Phantoms as well as a global scout for the Philadelphia Flyers, concentrating his focus on goaltenders. He spent eight seasons with the Flyers organization before spending six seasons working with the Florida Panthers.[5] Little spent the 2021–22 season working for the independent scouting firm Team 33 and was hired in the fall of 2022 by the Montreal Canadiens as a scout.[5]
Little was the assistant coach for the Princeton University men's hockey team from 2007–08 to the 2010–11 seasons.
Personal life
Little married Catherine M. Foote, DMD of Ardmore, PA in July 2013. He has four children, Nicholas, Elsie, Graysen, and Piper.
Awards and honours
| Award | Year |
|---|---|
| All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team | 1990–91 |
| All-ECAC Hockey First Team | 1992–93 |
| AHCA East Second-Team All-American | 1992–93 |
- 1997–98: Calder Cup Philadelphia Phantoms
- 2004–05: Calder Cup Philadelphia Phantoms
- 2006: Inducted into Philadelphia Phantoms Hall of Fame[6]
- 2007: Inducted into RPI's Athletic Hall of Fame[7]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | OTL | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 1989–90 | Estevan Bruins | SJHL | 46 | 21 | 19 | 4 | — | 2707 | — | — | 3.32 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 18 | 9 | 8 | 0 | — | 1032 | 71 | 0 | 4.13 | .879 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 28 | 11 | 11 | 3 | — | 1532 | 96 | 0 | 3.76 | .874 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 31 | 19 | 9 | 3 | — | 1801 | 88 | 0 | 2.93 | .906 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 27 | 16 | 7 | 4 | — | 1570 | 102 | 0 | 3.36 | .899 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | 0 | 3.23 | .889 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Johnstown Chiefs | ECHL | 16 | 7 | 6 | 1 | — | 897 | 55 | 0 | 3.68 | .896 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 145 | 11 | 0 | 4.55 | .864 | ||
| 1994–95 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 19 | 5 | 7 | 3 | — | 919 | 60 | 0 | 3.91 | .868 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 48 | 21 | 18 | 6 | — | 2680 | 149 | 0 | 3.34 | .895 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 4 | 0 | 4.02 | .902 | ||
| 1996–97 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 54 | 31 | 12 | 7 | — | 3007 | 145 | 0 | 2.89 | .909 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 620 | 20 | 1 | 1.94 | .935 | ||
| 1997–98 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 51 | 31 | 11 | 7 | — | 2960 | 145 | 0 | 2.94 | .903 | 20 | 15 | 5 | 1193 | 48 | 3 | 2.41 | .927 | ||
| 1998–99 | Grand Rapids Griffins | IHL | 50 | 18 | 21 | 5 | — | 2740 | 144 | 3 | 3.15 | .894 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 51 | 26 | 18 | 2 | — | 2830 | 143 | 1 | 3.03 | .906 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 298 | 15 | 0 | 3.02 | .922 | ||
| 2000–01 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 58 | 22 | 27 | 4 | — | 3117 | 148 | 2 | 2.85 | .909 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 631 | 23 | 1 | 2.19 | .926 | ||
| 2001–02 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 60 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | .862 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 35 | 13 | 15 | 7 | — | 2079 | 70 | 2 | 2.02 | .926 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 298 | 13 | 0 | 2.62 | .917 | ||
| 2002–03 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 42 | 18 | 9 | 4 | — | 2478 | 103 | 4 | 2.49 | .907 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 2 | 0 | 3.61 | .750 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 34 | 21 | 12 | 1 | — | 1900 | 62 | 6 | 1.96 | .920 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 26 | 15 | 7 | 0 | — | 1383 | 54 | 3 | 2.34 | .921 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | ||
| 2005–06 | Espoo Blues | FIN | 37 | 14 | 16 | — | 7 | 2100 | 85 | 2 | 2.43 | .916 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 93 | 6 | 0 | 3.86 | .838 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
References
- ^ Neiburg, Jeff (8 July 2015). "Flyers' new goalie coach praised by GM Ron Hextall". Philly.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ Cohen, Al (December 28, 2003). "Phantoms Lose 5-1 To Binghamton In Brawl-Filled Game". www.sjsports.com. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ "Suspended animation: After fight, AHL penalties". ESPN.com. December 31, 2003. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
- ^ "2012 Flyers Alumni Game Official Roster - Philadelphia Flyers - News". Philadelphiaflyers.com. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b Godin, Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine. "Basu and Godin: Apprenticeship of Canadiens' young D, inspiration for Lane Hutson and more". The Athletic. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
- ^ "Peter White Hall Of Fame Induction Highlights Big Night With Phantoms". OurSports Central. 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
- ^ "Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Athletics - Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2011-03-21.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
- "Neil Little". hockeygoalies.org. The Goaltender Home Page.
