They call him Killer, but off the ice and in person, Brian Kilrea would have a hard time living up to the moniker from his early days in hockey.
Instead, the much-respected general manager of the Ottawa 67’s and former coach and hockey player comes off as a modest and generous man.
When approached about a book chronicling his 60-year career in hockey — during which he won more games than any other coach in junior hockey history — Kilrea initially wasn’t interested.
When he finally agreed, one of his conditions was that he “didn’t want any curse words in it.
“I knew that young kids would read it,” he said.
Now that the book, They Call Me Killer, has hit the stands, Kilrea, who spoke at a launch event Thursday, is donating all of his proceeds to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. “I thought maybe I could help them out,” he said.
Some of the best advice he’s ever received was from his dad, who told him to remember that things always work out for the best.
“I never look back,” he said. “I just look at today and hope for a better tomorrow.”
