Brian Kilrea
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Brian Blair Kilrea (born October 21, 1934 in Ottawa, Ontario) is an ice hockey head coach, general manager and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Kilrea is a nephew of former NHL players Wally, Ken, and Hec Kilrea.
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[edit] Playing career
Kilrea played his first major junior season with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in 1954–55. In his playing career he played only 26 NHL games, although he had great success in the minor leagues. Kilrea spent four seasons with the Troy Bruins of the IHL, where he was named a second team All-Star in 1958–1959. Most of Kilrea's career was spent with the AHL's Springfield Indians, where he was an multiple All-Star and the franchise's career leader in assists. He has been named to the Springfield Hockey Hall of Fame.
Kilrea returned to the NHL, briefly, with expansion in 1967. Kilrea has the distinction of scoring the first-ever goal for the NHL Los Angeles Kings.
[edit] Coaching career
After ending his playing career, Kilrea began coaching the OHL major junior Ottawa 67's in 1974. He would continue coaching the 67's until 1984, when he became an assistant coach with the defending Stanley Cup champions, New York Islanders of the NHL. However, after two seasons, he would return to coaching the 67's.
Except for a brief retirement for the 1994–95 season, Kilrea has coached the 67's ever since, and is also the General Manager of the club. He has won the Memorial Cup, emblematic of Canada's major junior championship, twice with the 67's (1984 and 1999) and is the winningest coach in junior hockey history - a task completed on January 17, 1997 with his 742nd win. To date, he has over 1100 victories. On February 2, 2007, Brian Kilrea coached his 2000th game as head coach of the 67's.
Kilrea has also won the Matt Leyden Trophy as OHL Coach of the Year in 1980–81, 1981–82, 1995–96, 1996–97 and 2002–03. Kilrea was also honoured with the Bill Long Award in 1994, for distinguished service to the OHL.
In 2003, Brian Kilrea was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders category. The Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award, given annually to the top coach in the Canadian Hockey League, was renamed in his honour shortly after his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Kilrea won the award in 1996–97 when it was known as the CHL Coach of the Year Award.
In twenty-nine seasons with the 67's he has only had six losing seasons - an extraordinary task in junior hockey, which due to age restrictions has a high turnover rate of players.
[edit] Career statistics
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1954–55 | Hamilton Tiger Cubs | OHA | 49 | 27 | 25 | 52 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1955–56 | Troy Bruins | IHL | 60 | 16 | 36 | 52 | 22 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1956–57 | Troy Bruins | IHL | 60 | 9 | 35 | 44 | 46 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1957–58 | Edmonton Flyers | WHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1957–58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1958–59 | Troy Bruins | IHL | 54 | 33 | 60 | 93 | 44 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1959–60 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 63 | 14 | 27 | 41 | 26 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
1960–61 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 70 | 20 | 67 | 87 | 47 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | ||
1961–62 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 70 | 20 | 73 | 93 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
1962–63 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 72 | 25 | 50 | 75 | 34 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1963–64 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 72 | 22 | 61 | 83 | 28 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1964–65 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 72 | 23 | 54 | 77 | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1965–66 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 70 | 13 | 47 | 60 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | ||
1966–67 | Springfield Indians | AHL | 63 | 25 | 38 | 63 | 29 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1967–68 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 25 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1967–68 | Springfield Kings | AHL | 38 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
1968–69 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1968–69 | Tulsa Oilers | CHL | 24 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
1968–69 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 33 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
1969–70 | Denver Spurs | WHL | 32 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | ||
NHL Totals | 26 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - |
[edit] Coaching record
Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | Result | ||
OTT | 1974–75 | 70 | 33 | 30 | 7 | - | 73 | 4th in OMJHL | Lost in First Round |
OTT | 1975–76 | 66 | 34 | 23 | 9 | - | 77 | 2nd in Leyden | Lost in Third Round |
OTT | 1976–77 | 66 | 38 | 23 | 5 | - | 81 | 1st in Leyden | Won J. Ross Robertson Cup |
OTT | 1977–78 | 68 | 43 | 18 | 7 | - | 93 | 1st in Leyden | Lost in Third Round |
OTT | 1978–79 | 68 | 30 | 38 | 0 | - | 60 | 4th in Leyden | Lost in First Round |
OTT | 1979–80 | 68 | 45 | 20 | 3 | - | 93 | 2nd in Leyden | Lost in Third Round |
OTT | 1980–81 | 68 | 45 | 20 | 3 | - | 93 | 2nd in Leyden | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1981–82 | 68 | 47 | 19 | 2 | - | 96 | 1st in Leyden | Lost OHL Finals |
OTT | 1982–83 | 70 | 46 | 21 | 3 | - | 95 | 1st in Leyden | Lost in Third Round |
OTT | 1983–84 | 70 | 50 | 18 | 2 | - | 102 | 1st in Leyden | Won Memorial Cup |
OTT | 1986–87 | 66 | 33 | 28 | 5 | - | 71 | 3rd in Leyden | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1987–88 | 66 | 38 | 26 | 2 | - | 78 | 2nd in Leyden | Lost in Third Round |
OTT | 1988–89 | 66 | 30 | 32 | 4 | - | 64 | 5th in Leyden | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1989–90 | 66 | 38 | 26 | 2 | - | 78 | 4th in Leyden | Lost in First Round |
OTT | 1990–91 | 66 | 39 | 25 | 2 | - | 80 | 4th in Leyden | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1991–92 | 66 | 32 | 30 | 4 | - | 68 | 6th in Leyden | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1992–93 | 66 | 16 | 42 | 8 | - | 40 | 8th in Leyden | Missed Playoffs |
OTT | 1993–94 | 66 | 33 | 22 | 11 | - | 77 | 2nd in Leyden | Lost in Third Round |
OTT | 1995–96 | 66 | 39 | 22 | 5 | - | 83 | 1st in East | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1996–97 | 66 | 49 | 11 | 6 | - | 104 | 1st in East | Lost OHL Finals |
OTT | 1997–98 | 66 | 40 | 17 | 9 | - | 89 | 1st in East | Lost OHL Finals |
OTT | 1998–99 | 68 | 48 | 13 | 7 | - | 103 | 1st in East | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 1999–00 | 68 | 43 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 91 | 1st in East | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 2000–01 | 68 | 33 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 80 | 2nd in East | Won J. Ross Robertson Cup |
OTT | 2001–02 | 68 | 36 | 20 | 10 | 2 | 84 | 2nd in East | Lost in Second Round |
OTT | 2002–03 | 68 | 44 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 98 | 1st in East | Lost OHL Finals |
OTT | 2003–04 | 68 | 29 | 26 | 9 | 4 | 71 | 1st in East | Lost in First Round |
OTT | 2004–05 | 68 | 34 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 76 | 2nd in East | Lost OHL Finals |
OTT | 2005–06 | 68 | 29 | 31 | - | 8 | 66 | 4th in East | Lost in First Round |
OTT | 2006–07 | 68 | 30 | 34 | - | 4 | 64 | 4th in East | Lost in First Round |
OTT | 2007–08 | 68 | 29 | 34 | - | 5 | 63 | 3rd in East | Lost in First Round |
OHL Totals | 1974–2008 | 2088 | 1153 | 750 | 153 | 32 | 2491 |
[edit] External links
- Brian Kilrea's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Brian Kilrea's biography at Legends of Hockey (player)
- Brian Kilrea's biography at Legends of Hockey (coach)