Brian Kilrea

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CanadaCanada  Brian Kilrea Ice hockey player
Hockey Hall of Fame , 2003
Date of birth October 21, 1934
place of birth Ottawa , Ontario , Canada
size 180 cm
Weight 83 kg
position center
Shot hand Right
Career stations
1953-1955 Hamilton Tiger Cubs
1955-1959 Troy Bruins
1959-1967 Springfield Indians
1967-1968 Los Angeles Kings
1968-1969 Rochester Americans
Tulsa Oilers
1969-1970 Denver Spurs

Brian Blair Kilrea (born October 21, 1934 in Ottawa , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey striker and coach and general manager. For over 30 years he was in charge of the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League and in the meantime also worked in the National Hockey League . In 2003 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame .

Career as a player

Brian Kilrea began his career in 1954 with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in the Canadian Junior League OHA . He moved to the seniors the following year and played for the Troy Bruins in the IHL and established himself as one of the team's top scorers. Due to his performance, he recommended himself for the NHL and came in 1957/58 for a job with the Detroit Red Wings . But then he returned to the IHL and moved to the Springfield Indians in 1959 in the second-class AHL .

He was also one of the best players in Springfield and played his best season in 1961/62 when he scored 20 goals 73 prepared. From 1960 to 1962 he won the Calder Cup three times in a row with the team . In 1967 he got another chance in the NHL when the Los Angeles Kings signed him and he scored the first goal in the history of the franchise . However, he only came to 25 missions in which he achieved a total of three goals and five assists . He then played in lower-class leagues for two years before ending his career.

Career as a coach

After his playing career ended, Kilrea returned to his hometown Ottawa and in 1974 became the head coach of the Ottawa 67’s from the OHA junior league, which later changed its name to OHL. After he had already slowly led the team to the top in its first two seasons, they won the playoffs for the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the first time in the 1976/77 season . In the years that followed, the 67's were among the dominant teams in the league, reaching the playoff final once and the semi-finals three times between 1978 and 1983, and at least 45 wins in each season from 1979 to 1983. During the time, Kilrea was twice named the league's best coach with the Matt Leyden Trophy . Also in the 1983/84 season, the team was able to build on these achievements and won the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the second time, after which they then triumphed at the Memorial Cup .

Through these successes, the NHL had become aware of him and the New York Islanders hired him in 1984 as an assistant coach. While the Islanders had reached the Stanley Cup finals every time in the previous five years and won four times, the team seemed to have already peaked and in the following two years they failed prematurely in the playoffs.

Kilrea then returned in the summer of 1986 to the Ottawa 67's, where he tried to build on the old successes. However, the team only made it to the semi-finals once in the following seven years and completed the weakest season since their debut season in 1992/93 with 16 wins in 66 games. In the next season he was able to lead the teams back into the playoffs, but then resigned from his coaching position. Peter-John Lee became the new coach, but under him the 67's had a disappointing season with only 22 wins. Kilrea then took over for the 1995/96 season again as head coach and for the first time as general manager and with success. He led the team to third place in the OHL in the first year and reached the final of the playoffs in the following two seasons. In three years he was named the best coach in the league twice. He also received the CHL Coach of the Year Award for the best coach in Canadian junior ice hockey for the first time .

In 1999 the Ottawa 67's failed in the second round of the playoffs, but were still allowed to host the Memorial Cup finals. The team used the home advantage and won the most important trophy in Canadian junior ice hockey for the second time. Another participation in the tournament followed in 2001 when they won the OHL playoffs, but this time they finished last in the Memorial Cup.

Kilrea continued his work successfully in the following years. He led the team back to the final of the playoffs in 2003 and was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy as best coach for the fifth time. That same year he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the CHL's best coach award was renamed the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award .

In 2005 the Ottawa 67's reached the playoff final of the OHL again, but failed there at the London Knights . Since the Knights as hosts of the Memorial Cup were already set for the tournament, the 67's were allowed to move up as fourth participant and reached the semi-finals there, where they lost to the Rimouski Océanic around young star Sidney Crosby . In the following three years, the team's performance deteriorated and they have not made it past the first round since then.

On March 15, 2009, the Ottawa 67's won the last game of the 2008-09 regular season against the Kingston Frontenacs 5-3. It was in 2.156. Game of 1,193. Victory in the OHL for Kilrea, both record marks in the league. It was also the last regular season game for Kilrea in his coaching career. Ottawa had presented themselves stronger again in the season and reached the mark of 40 victories for the first time in six years, which they took third place in the Eastern Conference. His career finally ended March 31, when his team lost in a close first-round series against the Niagara IceDogs only in the extension of the seventh and decisive game.

Brian Kilrea looked after the Ottawa 67's in a total of 32 seasons of the OHL. Under his leadership, the team only missed the playoffs once, reached the final of the OHL playoffs eight times and was able to successfully contest it three times. There were also two Memorial Cup victories and three other participations in the tournament.

Achievements and Awards

As a player

As a trainer

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kilrea, Brian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kilrea, Brian Blair
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Ottawa , Ontario