Chris Neil played his first game in the NHL way back in 2001, with the Ottawa Senators. The team valued his toughness and fighting spirit, and he didn’t let the organization down. Even in the AHL, before his first NHL games, he posten back-to-back seasons of more than 300 penalty minutes, and he brought that with him to the NHL.
Neil played his last game just four years ago, and now retired, he can look back on 15 seasons with the Ottawa Senators. Neil is known as one of the best enforcers of all time, mostly because of his longevity in the league. He also provided some offence, but everybody remembers him for the fights.
During his playing days in the NHL, Neil was engaged in 176 fights. Yes, 176. He fought against every single team in the NHL, except for Ottawa.
Chris Neil now reveals that he recently did a x-ray on his left hand – and got some shocking news.
”When they did my x-ray on my left hand I had five fractures i didn’t knew i had. And I’m a righty, so I can just imagine what my right hand is like”‚ Neil recently said on The Wally and Methot Show.
On the show, Neil also talks about the general health on his hands.
”Yeah, they do suffer. There are rainy days when the arthritis kicks in and stuff”, he says.
Chris Neil played in 1026 games in the NHL, posting 250 points and a whopping 2522 penalty minutes. Only 19 players have more than that in the history of the NHL.
