I was more than a little worried that this guy might be taken before it gets back to me, so (with a little outside the box thinking here):
Cyclones are pleased to select as their coach...the coach...Mr. Brian Kilrea!
As a child, Brian Kilrea heard wonderful stories about professional hockey from his uncles. Hec, Wally and Ken had all enjoyed NHL careers. In fact, all three had been part of the Detroit Red Wing organization between 1936 to 1938. Born Octobr 21, 1934 in Ottawa, Brian assumed a passion and talent for hockey too, and embarked on a long, successful career.
Brian Kilrea played junior with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs. During his third season with Troy of the IHL, Kilrea was summoned to Detroit and played one game with the Red Wings in 1957-58. The season, returned to Troy, Brian was a Second Team All-Star in the IHL, scoring 33 goals and 93 points. Between 1958 and 1967, 'Killer' was a top performer for the AHL's Springfield Indians. He recorded six 20-goal seasons and helped Spingfield win three consecutive
Calder Cups from 1960 to 1962.
In May 1967, his NHL rights were transferred to the expansion Los Angeles Kings after the franchise purchased the Springfield team. Kilrea returned to the NHL for 25 games and scored eight points, including the first goal in the history of the Kings' franchise. He returned to the minors for two and a half years before spending the 1969-70 season with the Denver Spurs of the World Hockey Association. After retiring as a player in 1970, Kilrea moved into the realm of coaching. He took over as coach of the OHA's Ottawa 67's and never looked back.
He led the team to the
Memorial Cup in 1984, then joined the New York Islanders as an assistant to Al Arbour for his first and only taste of NHL coaching. He returned to the Ottawa bench in 1986-87 and later won a second Memorial Cup in 1999. Kilrea developed an enormous list of future NHL stars, including
Doug Wilson and
Jim Fox. In the mid 1990's he was forced to assume a scouting role when his health suffered, but a short time later, he returned and set the Canadian junior record for coaching wins on January 17, 1997. The record 742nd win came courtesy of a 6-0 Ottawa thrashing of the North Bay Centennials to move past former Portland Winter Hawks coach Ken Hodge.
In 2002-03 Kilrea celebrated his 1,000th victory as a head coach in the CHL. Within months of this accomplishment, Brian Kilrea was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder Category. "
This is the proudest moment of my life," Kilrea proclaimed in June 2003 when the announcement was made.
-5 Memorial Cup Finals
-2 Memorial Cups
-4 time OHA coach of the year
-2 time CHL coach of the year
-over 1200 career wins
-.588 lifetime winning percentage
-33 years coaching the same team! (Ottawa 67's)
-Hockey Hall Of Fame (builder)
-and the CHL coach of the year award is NAMED AFTER HIM!
Imagine this team:
Bobby Smith-Gary Roberts-Chris Simon
Michael Peca-Shean Donovan-Stu Gavin
Andrew Cassels-Adam Creighton-Randy Cunneyworth
Tim Young-Kris Draper-Steve Payne
Doug Wilson-Brian Campbell
Nick Boynton-Doug Crossma
Behn Wilson-and Wild 1st rd Tyler Cuma
Darren Pang-Kevin Weekes
That is a partial list of the NHLers Kilrea has developed for the NHL!
Team Cylones recap:
Center-1: Stan Mikita (2xHart, 3xArt Ross, 6x1st team, 2x2nd team, 2x Bying, Patrick, HHOF)
Center-2: Guy Carbonneau (3x Selke, and 2x runner-up)
Right Wing-1: Teemu Selanne (Richard, Calder, Masterton, 2x1st team, 2x2nd team)
Right Wing 2: Boom Boom Geoffrion (2xArt Ross, Hart, Calder, 1x1st team, 2x2nd team, HHOF)
Left Wing-1: Bobby Hull (2xHart, 3xArt Ross, 10x1st team, 2x2nd team, Patrick, HHOF)
Left Wing-2: Michel Goulet (3xBying, 3x1st team, 2x2nd team, HHOF)
Left Wing-3: John Leclair (2x +/- lead, 2x1st team, 3x2nd team)
Left Wing-4: Doug Bentley (Art Ross, 2x led in goals, 3x 1st team, 1x 2nd team, HHOF)
Defence-1: Dit Clapper (3x1st team, 3x2nd team, HHOF)
Defence-2: Pierre Pilote (3xNorris, 5x1st team, 3x2nd team, HHOF)
Defence-3: Mark Howe (3xNorris runner-up, 3x1st team, 1x +/- lead)
Defence-4: Earl Seibert (4x1st team, 6x2nd team, HHOF)
Defence-5: Jacques Laperriere (Norris, Calder, 2x1st team, 2x2nd team, 1x +/- lead, HHOF)
Defence-6: Vladimir Konstantinov (Norris finalist, 1x2nd team, Soviet National Team Captain)
Goalie-1: Dominik Hasek (2xHart, 2xPearson, 6xVezina, 3xJennings, 5x1st team)
Coach: Brian Kilrea (2 Memorial Cups, 5 Memorial Cup Finals, 33 years coaching, 1200+ wins, 6 coach of the year awards, HHOF)
Arena: Maple Leaf Gardens