Leslie Neil Little, Jr. (born December 18, 1971) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He was a member of the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

organization nearly his entire professional career, helping backstop the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

to two

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In it ...

championships and playing in two career

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(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 The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

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 The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Bears have played in the American Hockey League (AHL) since the 1938–39 season, making it the longest continuously operating member club of the league still ...

and

in the AHL, as well as playing two

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

games for the

. He signed with the

Espoo Blues Kiekko-Espoo is a Finnish professional ice hockey club founded in 2018 as a continuation of the Kiekko-Espoo team originally founded in 1984. Kiekko-Espoo men's team plays in the Liiga, where they were promoted for the 2024–25 Liiga season, 20 ...

in the Finnish

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

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 The Binghamton Senators were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2002 to 2017. Nicknamed the B-Sens, they played in Binghamton, New York, at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The B-Sens w ...

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 The 2012 NHL Winter Classic (known via corporate sponsorship as the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 2, 2012, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

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

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 The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Panthers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team initially played it ...

. Little spent the 2021–22 season working for the independent scouting firm Team 33 and was hired in the fall of 2022 by the

as a scout. Little was the assistant coach for the Princeton University men's hockey team from 2007–08 to the 2010–11 seasons.

Personal life

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

Awards and honours

* 1997–98:

'' * 2004–05:

'' * 2006: Inducted into Philadelphia Phantoms Hall of Fame * 2007: Inducted into RPI's Athletic Hall of Fame

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Neil 1971 births AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Espoo Blues players Estevan Bruins (SJHL) players Florida Panthers scouts Grand Rapids Griffins (IHL) players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey people from Medicine Hat Johnstown Chiefs players Living people Montreal Canadiens scouts Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Flyers scouts Philadelphia Phantoms players Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni RPI Engineers men's ice hockey players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Finland