Neely began his hockey career with the Ridge Meadows Lightning in the BCAHA, where in the 1981-82 season he managed 73 goals and 141 points in just 64 games. The following season he moved on to the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL, where he netted 56 goals and 120 points in just 72 games.

Neely was the Vancouver Canucks first round, and 9th overall draft pick in 1983. Early in the 1983-84 season he was called up to the parent club where in 56 games Neely was good for 16 goals and 31 points. Neely had much the same results over the next two seasons.

In June of 1996 Neely was traded to Boston along with Vancouver's first round draft pick of 1987, for Gary Pederson. The change agreed with Neely, and Cam began to show evidence of a true "power forward." In his first season with the Bruins(1986-87) he managed 36 goals and 72 points in 75 games. Cam led the Bruins that year in scoring and he would do so another 6 times during his career. Considering that he played 10 seasons with the Bruins and 2 of them he was out with injuries, Cam was definitely one of the best forwards Boston had seen in some time. Neely was recognized for his efforts in 1988 when he was named to the NHL Second All Star game, and he followed that with 3 other Second All Star team nominations in 1990. 1991 and 1994. He also played in the All Star Game in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1996.

Neely had two outstanding seasons, 1989-90 and 1990-91. In these two season he had 55 and 51 goals respectively and finished the seasons with 92 and 91 points each. He had joined Phil Esposito as the only two Bruins up to that time with back to back 50 goal seasons. In the 1990-91 playoffs the Bruins faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Conference Finals. Ulf Samuelsson hit Neely in the thigh with his knee and put Neely out. The injury resulted in Neely developing a condition known as myositis ossificans, where a portion of the muscle turns to bone. Coupled with some nagging knee injuries, Neely was forced to sit out much of the next two seasons, playing only 22 games, yet he was still good for 30 points.

In the 1993-94 season Neely was back, and back with fire in his eyes. He scored 50 goals in 44 games, and in doing so became tied with Mario Lemieux as the second fastest to reach 50 goals. Only Gretzky has done it faster, 39 games. That year, Cam was awarded the Bill Masterton Trohpy for perseverance and dedication to hockey. Unfortunately Neely would never fully recover from his recurring injuries and midway through the 1995-96 season he retired. We can only speculate how well Neely may have done in the NHL. He was averaging just a little under a point a game. Could he have played to the same level for another 7 years, giving him another 500 or so points? We will never know.