James Anthony "Chief" Neilson - Born November 28, 1941 in Big River, Saskatchewan - Died November 6, 2020 in Winnipeg, Manitoba was a Canadian Indigenous (Cree) ice Hockey defenceman.

Neilson was the son of a Cree mother and Danish father, moving to Prince Albert when he was a young child, he grew up in the St. Patrick’s Orphanage / Residential School in Prince Albert from age 5 years old. He was educated and learned to play Hockey there.

Cree then played for three years with the Prince Albert Mintos of the SJHL where he registered consecutive 20-goal seasons in 1960 and 1961. The New York Rangers prospect enjoyed a solid first pro season in the EPHL with the Kitchener-Waterloo Beavers in 1961-62.

Neilson made his NHL debut with Rangers on October 11, 1962 vs Detroit Red Wings in a 2-1 Detroit win at Madison Square Garden.

Neilson scored his 1st NHL goal vs Eddie Johnston of the Boston Bruins on November 22, 1962 at 18:15 of the 3rd period at Boston Garden in a 7-1 Rangers win.

Neilson looked solid as a rookie paired with Doug Harvey in 1962-63 and became a fixture on the New York defence for a 12 seasons. In 1967-68 he played superior defence and scored 35 points. "Chief" scored a career-high ten goals and 44 points the next year and helped the Rangers become one of the league's elite clubs. In 1968-69, he was paired with rookie Brad Park and was credited with making a huge difference in the youngster's game.

The only down side for Neilson during this period was a serious knee injury in February 1970, which prevented him from making sharp turns the rest of his career. Beginning in 1970-71 the Rangers recorded three straight 100-point seasons and reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1972. They also reached the semi-finals in 1973.

In June 1974, the Rangers left the veteran blueliner unprotected at the NHL Intra-League Draft. Neilson was claimed by the weak California Golden Seals and he became a stabilizing influence on the club playing mostly with youngster Rick Hampton. Neilson was named captain of the Golden Seals. He played two years on the West Coast and remained with the franchise during its two-year stay in Cleveland, becoming the Cleveland Barons 1st captain (shared with Bob Stewart).

Neilson retired in 1979 after playing a year in the WHA with Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers, picking up 5 assists in 35 games. The Oilers made it to the Avco World Trophy / Avco Cup finals, losing in 6 games.

Neilson played 1,024 NHL regular season games, scoring 69 goals (11 GWG), 299 assists with 901 penalty minutes and 65 NHL playoff games, scoring 1 goal, 17 assists with 61 penalty minutes.

Neilson played in the NHL All-Star Games in 1967, and 1971.

Neilson was named runner-up for the James Norris Trophy in 1967/68, losing out to Bobby Orr.

In 2009, Neilson was ranked No. 42 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons).

Jim Neilson was inducted into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

James “Jim” Neilson was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.

The Big River First Nation has built the Jim Neilson Sports Complex in Debden, Saskatchewan in his honour.