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Neil Little

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Neil Little
Neil in 2002
Born (1971-12-18) December 18, 1971 (age 52)
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

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

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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

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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

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Little married Catherine M. Foote, DMD of Ardmore, PA in July 2013. He has four children, Nicholas, Elsie, Graysen, and Piper.

Awards and honours

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Award Year
All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team 1990–91
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 1992–93
AHCA East Second-Team All-American 1992–93

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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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

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  1. ^ Neiburg, Jeff. "Flyers' new goalie coach praised by GM Ron Hextall". Philly.com. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  2. ^ Cohen, Al (December 28, 2003). "Phantoms Lose 5-1 To Binghamton In Brawl-Filled Game". www.sjsports.com. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  3. ^ "Suspended animation: After fight, AHL penalties". ESPN.com. December 31, 2003. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  4. ^ "2012 Flyers Alumni Game Official Roster - Philadelphia Flyers - News". Philadelphiaflyers.com. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Peter White Hall Of Fame Induction Highlights Big Night With Phantoms". OurSports Central. 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2011-03-21.
  7. ^ "Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Athletics - Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2011-03-21.
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