By C. Gary Greenham
The face of junior hockey’s most successful coach is worn and wrinkled, his hair graying. His eyes are tired, he is feeling ill.
Brian Kilrea, like many of his players, isn’t at 100 per cent health these days. His schedule, peppered with medical appointments, can attest that much.
Though under the weather now, Kilrea has had plenty of good times in his 22 years of coaching in Ottawa.
“I’m an Ottawa boy,” Kilrea says in a gruff voice. “I’ve always been proud to be from Ottawa and be able to call it my home.”
Kilrea has been awarded Ontario Hockey League coach of the year honours four times and has brought Memorial Cup championships to Ottawa twice, aiming for a third this spring.
Kilrea broke junior hockey’s record for most coaching wins during the 1996-97 season and has put together some marvelous seasons since then.
The 67’s led the OHL’s Eastern Conference for most of the season, but a late-season slump dropped the team into second place. They opened a best-of-seven series against the sixth-seeded Oshawa Generals, March 28.
“This is where I should be,” Kilrea says. “I enjoy working with the kids on a daily basis and watching them improve their game.”
Kilrea has children of his own but says his hockey life hasn’t affected fatherhood.
“My kids grew up all their life with hockey,” says Kilrea. “They’re glad I coach in town because this is where they grew up and have their friends.”
Kilrea’s tenure as head coach of the 67’s was interrupted during the mid-1980s when he decided to try his hand at the pro game, as assistant coach for the NHL’s New York Islanders. He lasted two seasons in the NHL before the Islanders let him go. They (the Islanders) felt I was too close with the players,” Kilrea says.
The Islanders were coming off their dynasty years of four straight Stanley Cups in the early 1980s.
Kilrea says he enjoyed his time on Long Island but is glad to be back home in Ottawa and to junior hockey.
“I’ve had other chances at different times to go back to the NHL with other teams than the Islanders, but I’m happy here in Ottawa,” says Kilrea. “Winning the Memorial Cup last year for the city of Ottawa and doing it on home ice was a very special moment in my life.
“In the NHL, it’s not a training ground like it is in junior hockey. By the time the players are in the NHL most of their skills are fully developed and if you don’t win, you’re out of the league. That much is true if you’re a coach or player.”
Dan Tessier, team captain, recalls his first game with the 67’s when he was a rookie in 1996.
“I remember it like it was yesterday and I was so nervous,” says Tessier. “After my very first game Killer (Kilrea) sat me down and told me to relax and just give it 100 per cent. That’s all I’ve done since.”
The injured captain says Kilrea has achieved such success at the OHL level that his players want to give him the most out of their talents. Tessier credits the coach for all of the team’s success in recent years.
For Jeff Hunt, one of the main factors in buying the Ottawa 67’s a couple of years ago was Brian Kilrea.
“He’s a definite reason why I bought the team,” says Hunt. “He is very well respected in hockey and in Ottawa. He gives his teams credibility.”