Senators to retire Neil's number 25 jersey

Sens retire Chris Neil's number 25 CTV's Jeremie Charron reports from the Canadian Tire Centre about the highest honour give to one of the Sens' fan favourites.

Chris Neil's number 25 will be raised to the rafters of Canadian Tire Centre this evening.

The Ottawa Senators will retire Neil's jersey during a pre-game ceremony before the Senators face the Chicago Blackhawks.

Neil played his entire 15-year career with the Senators, scoring 112 goals and adding 138 assists during 1,026 regular season games. Neil is the all-time leader in penalty minutes for the Senators.

"I'm honoured to be the GM when we're going to retire Chris Neil's jersey," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said on Thursday.

"Chris, as a player, was a warrior, on and off the ice he did everything to get the maximum out of himself."

Former Senators defenceman Wade Redden says Neil had an impact on the club.

"I look back to when he first joined our team and where we were as a team and what we were lacking, he brought a lot of energy and a lot of toughness," Redden said.

Neil joins Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips as the only Senators players in the modern era to have their jersey retired.

Fans asked to arrive by 6 p.m.

The Senators are asking fans to be in their seats before 6 p.m. for the retirement ceremony.

The 30-minute ceremony will feature speeches, special guests and a video tribute to Neil.

TSN 1200 play-by-play announcer Dean Brown will be joined by colour commentator Gord Wilson and Nicolas St-Pierre from Unique 94.5 FM as the emcees for the night.

The ceremony will take place prior to the player warm-up, and the game will begin at 7:25 p.m.

All fans attending the game will receive a mini replica of the Neil banner raised to the rafters.

You can catch the Neil retirement ceremony on TSN 1200 and TSN 5.