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RESPONSIBLE SPORTS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Cam Neely|Positive Outlook The Responsible Sports Podcast series features Positive Coaching Alliance founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson interviewing prominent former athletes, coaches and general managers. Each episode, these influential stars share their insights on Responsible Sports from their own sports careers. Listen in as they talk about filling emotional tanks, bouncing back from mistakes, staying motivated through long seasons to continually give 100% effort, and how they translated their sports experience to invaluable life lessons. n ABOUT JIM THOMPSON Jim Thompson is the founder and Executive Director of Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), a nonprofit organization founded at Stanford University with the mission of helping to transform the culture of youth sports to give all young athletes the opportunity for a positive, character-building experience. PCA serves as the experts behind the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports program. n ABOUT RESPONSIBLE SPORTS The Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports™ program supports volunteer youth sports coaches and parents who help our children succeed both on and off the field. We offer many youth sports resources including $2,500 community grants, instructional videos, weekly tips, peer and expert advice, and coursework for those interested in improving the youth sports experience for all involved. To learn more, visit ResponsibleSports.com n IN THIS EPISODE: CAM NEELY In this episode, Jim talks with NHL Hall of Fame and Boston Bruins right wing hockey legend Cam Neely. Neely shares his secret to success: the power of positive thinking. Taught to him by his dad, this positive approach helped Neely bounce back from mistakes, recover from injury, and overcome two devestating losses in the Stanley Cup. n EPISODE INFORMATION Episode Number 23 Episode Date: April 27, 2012 Episode Length: 00:25:47 (p) 2012. Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports © 2012. Liberty Mutual Insurance and Positive Coaching Alliance. All Rights Reserved. RESPONSIBLE SPORTS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Cam Neely|Positive Outlook JM: Cam, I want to start off by introducing you to our audience. Cam Neeley was born in a small town in British Columbia where he played minor league hockey with the Ridge Meadows Hockey Association before moving to the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League. After leading his team to a win in the Memorial Cup in the Western Hockey League, he was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, 9th overall in the 1983 draft. He played three seasons with the Canucks before being traded to the Boston Bruins. In his inaugural campaign there his 36 goals led the team and his 72 points more than doubled his previous year’s tallies. He reached the 50 goal mark in three separate seasons, played in five All Star Games and was named Second Team All Star at right wing in 1988, ’90, ’91 and ’94. Only three other players have registered higher goals per game average through an NHL season putting him among the company of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Bret Hull. He also won the Bill Masterson trophy in 1994 and is one of only ten Bruins to have his number retired. Cam was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2007 he was appointed Vice President of the Bruins and was promoted to President just three years later. And in a big year, in 2011, he and the Bruins captured the Stanley Cup. Cam and his wife, Paulina, have two children, Jack and Eva. Cam, thanks for joining us. CAM: It’s my pleasure. JIM: Cam, I first want to start by talking about the Bill Masterson trophy which you won after the ‘93/94 season. This is awarded to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey. Talk about that trophy and what it meant to you. CAM: Well, it came after some serious injuries where I missed a lot of hockey. Had to do all kinds of rehab and therapy. I didn’t give up my love for the game even though there was moments where I wasn’t sure if I’d play again. To be recognized because of that was certainly an honor. It’s an award that, unfortunately, players in that— in my situation receive. But it also I think shows people what kind of dedication and perseverance athletes have when their career may be taken away from them, and how hard it is to get back and to play at a level you want to play at. JIM: I’m thinking about the NFL Combine coming up, and a lot of talk about talent versus character. Can you talk about in terms of the Bruins and what you’re looking to players—how you balance the character that is awarded. The Bill Masterson trophy is really about character—how you balance talent and character when you’re looking for players? © 2012. Liberty Mutual Insurance and Positive Coaching Alliance. All Rights Reserved. RESPONSIBLE SPORTS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Cam Neely|Positive Outlook CAM: Character’s high on my list, to be honest with you, and the same with our organization. We really look at a player’s character. Talent, obviously, is something that you see right away, or you feel the player can improve their skill sets. But character is high because you feel like a player is going to do everything they can to get the best out of their abilities. And that includes certainly a strong work ethic. Talent can get you so far. It certainly gets a lot of players in all sports drafted and may get them, depending on where they’re drafted, an opportunity to play at the pro level. But that talent can only take you so far, and that’s where your hopes are, you find someone with a strong character that’s very talented. JIM: One of the things that talent doesn’t get you through is injuries. And I know you’ve battled many injuries during your career. What advice can you give youth athletes and coaches when it comes to dealing with injuries. CAM: Well, you have to take them seriously. You know, you always want to play, and you always feel like you can play depending on how severe the injury is. But the biggest thing is making sure you take care of yourself. If you do have an injury, listen to the doctors, listen to the therapists, listen to what they have to say because it’s only for your betterment. You come back too early, as I did at one point in my career I think I came back too early, and it set me back even farther. So every athlete wants to play. They don’t really want to go through therapy and treatments and working out. They’d rather be on the field or on the ice, or on the court. But you really have to listen to the people that know best, and that’s usually the doctors and the trainers. JIM: It strikes me that the focus on toughness sometimes the idea is I’m going to be tough, I’m going to go back early. Sometimes mental toughness can be in taking that extra time even when you feel like people are wondering if you’re taking it too easy. CAM: You’re correct, as long as you’re true and honest with yourself, and know your injury, and the doctors know, your parents know it, depending on where you’re at in your career, if your coaches know it, that’s all you have to worry about. Obviously, if you feel like you complain you’re not going to hurt yourself any further, then you’re going to want to get out there and play. But for the most part, toughness isn’t playing through an injury that will certainly set you back, because that just really will hurt yourself and your team even more so. JIM: You know, throughout your career you had a reputation of being incredibly tough without being dirty. I interviewed Ronnie a lot, the football player awhile back. Football and hockey are both collision sports. There’s just a lot of contact. I asked him how he was able to honor the game in such a physical sport. He talked about rules of engagement. That’s really understanding what those are. Are there rules of engagement for a hockey player in terms of a line that you cross where you become dirty, on the other side of the line it’s toughness? © 2012. Liberty Mutual Insurance and Positive Coaching Alliance. All Rights Reserved. RESPONSIBLE SPORTS PODCAST TRANSCRIPT Cam Neely|Positive Outlook CAM: Well, it’s just that every sport has rules to begin with. So you play within those rules. In our sport, in particular, there’s penalties that you incur for breaking those rules. But they’re there for a reason. Like you can get a two-minute penalty, five-minute penalty, ten-minute penalty. But it’s really staying within those rules, even if you do get a penalty you’re still playing the game within those rules. I mean, what you don’t want to cross is, get to a point where you’re outside of those rules that will give you a penalty but actually suspend you. It is a line. The game’s a fast game. But for the most part it’s understanding the rules of the sport. You can still play tough, you can still play physical, as long as you try to stay within those rules of the sport. JIM: After your first three seasons with the Canucks, you were traded to the Bruins.