It was almost about the huge amount of hockey folks I didn’t get to talk with . . . than the huge amount I did.
Sunday night at Lansdowne was quite a gathering. If you missed the notice, it was all in honour of former Ottawa 67’s coach and general manager, Brian Kilrea. Killer was set to celebrate his 90th birthday (this from a guy who told me about 20 years ago that ‘we Kilrea’s don’t hang around too long!’ So much for that thought. And we’re more than glad you did).
Walking into Lansdowne’s Horticultural Building was akin to walking into some kind of junior hockey hall of fame.
Just a partial list of who was there?
Former CHL President Dave Branch, Killer’s longtime assistant coach Bert O’Brien (another one of my favourite guys), former owner, the nattily dressed Jeff Hunt (inside jokes work the best, eh?), legendary junior hockey manager Sherry Bassin, Chicago Blackhawks broadcaster Darren Pang (who gave such an emotional and endearing speech), former assistant Vinny Malette, former coach James Boyd . . . and more and more.
From the player’s side?
My buddy and 67’s great Tim Higgins (brother Pat was on hand too; former 67’s GM), linemate Bobby Smith, Doug Wilson, Brian Campbell, Mark Bell, Levente Szuper, and the scene-stealer of the night – former 67’s and Senator tough guy Zenon Konopka . . . and many, many more.
The media was there, too, to pay tribute.
Emcee James Duthie of TSN, my old boss at the Sun, Tim Baines (had a fun time reminiscing about Tim’s classic emails-of-frustration directed my way. Lots of laughs), the cerebral assassin Chris Stevenson (a Sun teammate and now doing a bang-up co-hosting gig on TSN 1200), 67’s play-by-play man Kenny Walls, Dave (The Voice) Schreiber, Terry (Johnny Cash) Marcotte, one-of-the-best-straight-up-no-bullshit reporters in the biz, Doni Brennan and the industrious, world-traveller, Aaron-John Jakubec . . . and more and more.
On video there were tributes from Don Cherry, Logan Couture and Tyler Toffoli.
There were, too, a lot of faces in the hall that I didn’t recognize but would, if I had Killer’s strength of longevity and his incredible reach and innate ability to touch people.
See, that’s the thing with Brian. (And if you were there, you’d recognize it as well. And better yet, if you knew the man as many of us do, you’d agree.) Brian Kilrea isn’t just a guy who shuffled behind the bench or traded your ass to Owen Sound or Windsor, he’s a guy who has shaped boys into men since the 1970s, and did it like no other.
And that’s the thing that stood out as seemingly dozens of former players and execs and hockey associates took to the podium to sing Brian’s praises. Almost all of them – scratch that, all of them – made sure to mention that Brian Kilrea’s life isn’t and wasn’t just about hockey.
It’s about integrity and doing-the-right-thing.
Hell, it’s about life.
Congrats Killer.
thegrossgame@yahoo.com
HEADER IMAGE: (LEFT TO RIGHT) Brian Kilrea Birthday, James Duthie, Mark Bell and Sherry Bassin (foreground).
