2018
Corey Neilson - Former ice hockey player and head coach of Nottingham Panthers
Honorary Degree of Sport in recognition of his significant contribution to ice hockey,
both locally and nationally.
Corey Neilson was drafted to play ice hockey for the Edmonton Oilers in 1994. In 1997 he turned professional, going on to play in the East Coast Hockey League before being called up to the American Hockey League.
In 2006, he moved to the UK and was signed to the Nottingham Panthers. After one season as a player, he became player / assistant coach, then player / head coach, and then in 2013 he retired from playing to concentrate on coaching.
The Panthers have taken home 14 pieces of silverware since Corey joined the club. In the 2016/17 season, they won the prestigious European Continental Cup, qualifying for the Champions Hockey League. They succeeded in reaching the final sixteen, in the face of top European hockey clubs with player budgets that dwarfed their own. He has won the Nottingham Post’s Brian Clough Coach of the Year award multiple times.