Nashville, TN (My Sportsbook) - Longtime National Hockey League coach Roger Neilson died Saturday at his Peterborough, Ontario home after a lengthy battle with both bone marrow and skin cancer.

The announcement came from commissioner Gary Bettman during the NHL Entry Draft at Gaylord Entertainment Center.

"There is no way to measure accurately the number of lives Roger Neilson touched, inside and outside the hockey world, during his lifetime of devotion to our game," said Bettman. "Hockey has lost a great mind, a great spirit, a great friend. The National Hockey League family mourns his loss but celebrates his legacy, the generations of players he counseled, the coaches he molded, the changes his imagination inspired and the millions of fans he entertained."

A member of the NHL Hall of Fame, Neilson coached Toronto, Buffalo, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Florida, the New York Rangers and Philadelphia during his 25-year career.

Neilson had spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach in Ottawa.

After undergoing a successful stem cell transplant in 2000, Neilson was then diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, in January 2001. His condition continued to get worse over the course of his illnesses and eventually took the life of one of the most popular coaching figures in the game.

Neilson broke into the league as the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 1977-78 season, when he led the Leafs to a 41-29-10 record. A short stop in Buffalo preceded Neilson's arrival in Vancouver for parts of three seasons and 28 games at the helm of the Kings in 1983-84.

From 1989 to 1993, Neilson coached the Rangers and followed that with two seasons in Florida. During the 1997-98 season, the Flyers, who'd hired him as an assistant, promoted Neilson to take over for Wayne Cashman.

The first round of cancer came during the 1999-00 campaign, during which Neilson left the Flyers bench to deal with the illness.

The gentle-natured Neilson, known throughout his tenure as a video-teaching pioneer, a players' coach and a genius tactician, held a regular-season record of 460-381-159. In 11 postseasons, Neilson was 51-55.

"We are greatly saddened by the loss of not only a coaching legend, but a great friend and a man who's touched many with his spirit across the world," said Roy Mlakar, Ottawa's president and chief executive officer. "He will be greatly missed."