Neil Little

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. He is now a scout for the NHL Montreal Canadiens.

Playing career 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.

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.

Little is also the founder of ProHockeyLaunch.com which is an evaluation and mentorship company for up-and-coming young hockey players.

Coaching career 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. 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. 2007: Inducted into RPI's Athletic Hall of Fame

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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 — — — — — — — —