After Roger Neilson passed away on June 21, 2003, I began thinking of how someone could impact so many people and no one could say a bad word about him.

A Tribute to Roger Neilson

Sheldon and Roger - Summer '92

"Knowing Jesus means that when I die I'm going to heaven. I've got a place to go when it's all over. And that's the only way to go." Roger Neilson

Roger Neilson passed away today at the age of 69. I met Roger in 1992 at a hockey camp in Caronport, Saskatchewan. I was 17 years old and was preparing to begin at Caronport High School. Roger was healthy, and was a bundle of energy for the week, training us in hockey.

Roger and hockey were married. He loved the game and loved everyone he ever met. If you think of how the game of hockey has changed over the years, Roger's fingerprints can be seen all over it.

Fans waving towels to spur on their team... Roger started that in 1982 as coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

Coaches using video to scout their opponents and find ways to improve their team... started by Roger when he coached the Peterborough Petes in the sixties, in fact, hw became known as Captain Video.

Roger was the reason the rule book was so thick, as he found loopholes and used every one of them.

"There is no way to measure accurately the number of lives Roger Neilson touched inside and outside the hockey world during his lifetime of devotion to our game, and there is no way to measure our sorrow at news of his passing." Gary Bettman - NHL Commissioner.

Bettman summarized the way the hockey world feels when they lose an innovator and friend but I want to talk about how Roger portrayed what Christians should be.

Roger was faithful when struggling with the cancer that eventually destroyed his physical body, and he made sure people knew that he wasn't scared to be taken away from this world. "Knowing Jesus means that when I die I'm going to heaven. I've got a place to go when it's all over. And that's the only way to go," Roger stated during his initial bout with the disease which he won the first round.

When a well known Christian ends up the lead story on the news, it's usually because they stumbled. With Roger, I never got worried he would fall. When he ended up on the news it was because someone wronged him, or he was being rewareded in some way. He ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame, was appointed to the Order of Canada (the nation's highest honour), and was the head coach in 1000 NHL games, an amazing feat.

He always stated that it was his faith in God that allowed him to endure the chemotherapy that left him drained but still return to coaching. Even after Bob Clarke, the GM of the Philadelphia Flyers snubbed him, Roger took the high road. Roger knew that life on earth was not about being bitter at those who wrong you, but to find the good in people. It is the reason that everyone who met him could call him a friend.

Roger was able to impact thousands of people at the highest level in hockey, but the thing that made me write this is the 5 minutes he spent with me in the basement lounge at the Christian Athlete Hockey Camp in 1992 in Caronport. Over his life he coached hundreds of thousands of youth in multiple sports. Briercrest Schools and HMI are building a rink in Caronport, Saskatchewan that will be named the Roger Neilson Training Centre. Personally, I can't wait to play on his team when I get to join him at the Roger Neilson Arena, just a few blocks from the Pearly Gates.

Read Roger Neilson's comments about living with cancer at PowertoChange.com. To see how Roger affected the hockey world, check out The Sports Network's Tribute to Roger Neilson.