Hockey Hall OF Fame

Last night the Hockey Community came together to celebrate the great careers of 1 great broadcaster, 1 great front office/builder and 4 of the creme-de la-creme in terms of players. John Davidson, Lou Lamoriello, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Brian Leetch were all honoured in Toronto at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Hall opened its doors to possibly one of the best cast of characters that the Hall has ever let in in a single year. Next to the Messier group a few years ago this would have to rank right there. It is a different type of players this year but their contributions to the game can not be denied. Not only can you look at the body of work in the NHL but also what they have done on the international stage with various national teams and tournaments. That is one thing that people often forget to realize, it is the Hockey Hall of Fame not the NHL Hall of Fame. That is why it is a shame that there are so many players out there that are probably deserving to be in even if they either didn’t play in the NHL or had a limited career in the league. Getting more Russians in that may be deserving will be a start (Igor Larionov was a good start) and the eventual inclusion of women who will be inducted hopefully will happen in due time.

One thing that kind of jumps out with this years group is the American influence that is going in this year 3 of the 6 name mentioned above are from the USandA...provided you count Hull as full American. This is a bit of a shift as we often see more Canadians inducted each year.

Also it is interesting to notice that in this group 3 of the inductees played together on the same team and won the Stanley Cup. There are as many as 10 players from that group that could one day be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame -- and that doesn’t even include coach Scotty Bowman who has already been inducted. That has to rank right up there as one of the best teams ever assembled.

Thank You and Goodbye Killer!

March 15th, 2009 marked the last game that 67’s Coach Brian Kilrea would work a regular season game behind the bench. Now he still has a playoff run ahead as they will play Niagara in the first round and will still stay on as GM of the team. Kilrea has been with the 67s as coach since Sept. 27, 1974 minus 2 seasons as an assistant with the New York Islanders, has the most wins by a coach and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. All you ever hear about him is that the players that he has come in as boys and leave as respectful men. It is kind of funny when, by all accounts, that a Kilrea story can’t be told because of the expletives yet he manages young men and moulds them into not only good hockey players but good members of society.

I was lucky enough to be there in person 4rows from the glass right behind the net to take in this special event as “Killer” was saluted with an almost 40-minute pre-game ceremony.There was a few video messages played before he addressed the crowd. Former Springfield Indians teammate and friend Don Cherry and TV sidekick Ron MacLean said some nice words, as well as from former 67's goaltender-turned-broadcaster Darren Pang and Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky sent on their regards as well. There was a nice video tribute that highlighted his career showing him scoring the first goal in LA Kings history to his many triumphs behind the bench, including him lifting the Memorial Cup. Kilrea now has 1,193 wins in 2,157 games behind the bench. Both numbers are Canadian junior records. The CHL's coach of the year award is also named after Kilrea. He then addressed the crowd with a very moving speech, which he almost got through until the end when he got a little choked up when talking about the most recent honor bestowed upon him...a donation to CHEO by the team and the OHL to name an educational teaching room after him. It is only fitting that his name be linked with developing youth. A banner to commemorate Kilrea's career was also raised to the rafters.

In a fitting tribute the 67s managed a 5-3 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs in Killers last game. Logan Couture scored a hat trick on some pretty goals to lead the team to victory. In 2 very classy moves at the end of the game the team held their sticks like an arch as Killer walked under and off the ice and then there was the announcement that there were 4 stars, 1 Frontenac, Juilan Demers who was the 3rd star, Couture was 2nd and of course then Brian Kilrea was the games first star.
As a fan of junior hockey it was really great to be in attendance for this and just be apart of the 10,000+ standing room only crowd as Ottawa said goodbye to a legend. It will be interesting next year for Killer not to be behind the bench but hopefully incoming coach Chris Byrne can continue in the success that the team has come to enjoy. It will be tough for sure as you can’t fill the shoes of a legend. I am sure that he will do a great job and become a good coach in his own right after his success in Nepean as coach of the JR A. Raiders.