Submitted by: BuckyHermit (from Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Country: Canada
Province: British Columbia
City: Vancouver
Location: Roger Neilson statue, at Rogers Arena [map]
Status since photo:
The Roger Neilson statue is located outside Rogers Arena to honor former coach Roger Neilson, who is credited with initiating the tradition of rally towels in the National Hockey League (an idea originally from the National Football League). The tradition, dubbed "Towel Power," started in the NHL in an event involving Neilson's Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs, where he felt that the officiating was unfairly lopsided. Placing a towel on a stick as a sign of surrender (depicted by the statue), he unknowingly started a tradition that will endure for decades. Neilson died in 2003 from cancer, but not before forming a legacy as one of the most influential coaches in NHL history.
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