Madferret
5-09-05, 6:16 PM
Ottawa 67's have a habit of overachieving under coach and GM Brian Kilrea
(CP) - Call it the Kilrea factor. Major junior hockey in Canada is in the final stages of the post-season and the Ottawa 67's are in the mix as they often and inexplicably are. While head coach and general manager Brian Kilrea has been at the helm of the odd powerhouse 67's during his 28 years with the team, what stands out more in his career is his incredible knack for getting lesser teams to overachieve when it counts.
The 2004-05 edition of the 67's finished sixth in the Eastern Conference, but they are making life difficult for the mighty London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League championship series. Both teams will play in the Memorial Cup from May 21 to 29 as the Knights are the host team and the 67's qualified by reaching the OHL final.
Ottawa evened up the best-of-seven series 1-1 with a 6-3 victory in London on Sunday. Game 3 is Tuesday at the Ottawa Civic Centre, where the 67's have not lost a game in the post-season. But the 67's are underdogs with an exclamation mark against the Knights, ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League all season. It's a situation the 70-year-old Kilrea seems to relish.
"It's a role I think we do well in," he said. "I like the idea that everyone is favoured and we're going out to try and play with them." The 67's have reached the OHL final five times in the last nine years under Kilrea, which is a feat made more remarkable by the fact the odds against it are greater every year because of expansion.
That stat doesn't include the 1999 Memorial Cup the 67's won as the host team. In 2001, the 67's did not finish among the top teams in the OHL, yet won the title with a team that had little depth and generated most of its offence from the back end.
This year's 67's were struggling mid-season and appeared headed for a rare non-playoff finish. Two veterans - Peter Tsimikalis and defenceman Kyle Wharton - requested trades and got them. Kilrea acquired forward Chris Hulit, the 67's leading playoff scorer, from Oshawa, and defenceman Brad Staubitz, now an assistant captain on the team, from Sault Ste. Marie, among several deals. It took some time, but the 67's clicked in early March and beat Barrie, Sudbury and then swept Peterborough in the playoffs en route to the final.
"We kind of came out of the dark down the stretch and into the playoffs and we're having a lot of fun with it," captain Will Colbert said. "Sometime in January and February people were talking about us not even making the playoffs. "The way Killer turned this team around, made some key deals, it's unbelievable and hopefully we can take London right to end."
The mind behind the 67's doesn't give away his secrets. Kilrea credits his scouting staff, but Rangers coach Peter DeBoer knows better. "He's a very smart man," DeBoer said. "He knows what wins this time of year and he probably does a better job than anyone else in the league of surrounding himself with those types of players.
"I've worked with him in all-star games and it's obvious he knows what buttons to push to get the best out of individuals." It could be a sharp bark and a withering stare as easily as a pat on the back and a word of praise, but those players who buy into Kilrea's program more often than not are rewarded for it.
"He's pretty intense. He challenges us all the time," Colbert said. "You get used to it. When I first came here, it was a little intimidating at first, but that's just the way he does it. You take what he's saying and not how he's saying it and put it to use. "The players that have talent and want to work for him do the best they can for him."
Even though they have already secured a berth in the Memorial Cup, the 67's aren't holding anything back in the series against London. "Killer let us know that as soon as we got past Peterborough that we weren't going to be happy just playing in the Memorial Cup," Colbert said. "We got a spot, but it's not going to change the way we play. We want an OHL championship. We want to get there the tough way, the right way."
Kilrea was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builder's category in 2003 in recognition of over 1,000 wins with the 67's. That same year, Kilrea and 67's owner Jeff Hunt agreed to a contract extension of 10 years, which is job security unheard of at any level of hockey.
http://nhl.speedera.net/photos/k/kilrea_brian_hhof.jpg
(CP) - Call it the Kilrea factor. Major junior hockey in Canada is in the final stages of the post-season and the Ottawa 67's are in the mix as they often and inexplicably are. While head coach and general manager Brian Kilrea has been at the helm of the odd powerhouse 67's during his 28 years with the team, what stands out more in his career is his incredible knack for getting lesser teams to overachieve when it counts.
The 2004-05 edition of the 67's finished sixth in the Eastern Conference, but they are making life difficult for the mighty London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League championship series. Both teams will play in the Memorial Cup from May 21 to 29 as the Knights are the host team and the 67's qualified by reaching the OHL final.
Ottawa evened up the best-of-seven series 1-1 with a 6-3 victory in London on Sunday. Game 3 is Tuesday at the Ottawa Civic Centre, where the 67's have not lost a game in the post-season. But the 67's are underdogs with an exclamation mark against the Knights, ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League all season. It's a situation the 70-year-old Kilrea seems to relish.
"It's a role I think we do well in," he said. "I like the idea that everyone is favoured and we're going out to try and play with them." The 67's have reached the OHL final five times in the last nine years under Kilrea, which is a feat made more remarkable by the fact the odds against it are greater every year because of expansion.
That stat doesn't include the 1999 Memorial Cup the 67's won as the host team. In 2001, the 67's did not finish among the top teams in the OHL, yet won the title with a team that had little depth and generated most of its offence from the back end.
This year's 67's were struggling mid-season and appeared headed for a rare non-playoff finish. Two veterans - Peter Tsimikalis and defenceman Kyle Wharton - requested trades and got them. Kilrea acquired forward Chris Hulit, the 67's leading playoff scorer, from Oshawa, and defenceman Brad Staubitz, now an assistant captain on the team, from Sault Ste. Marie, among several deals. It took some time, but the 67's clicked in early March and beat Barrie, Sudbury and then swept Peterborough in the playoffs en route to the final.
"We kind of came out of the dark down the stretch and into the playoffs and we're having a lot of fun with it," captain Will Colbert said. "Sometime in January and February people were talking about us not even making the playoffs. "The way Killer turned this team around, made some key deals, it's unbelievable and hopefully we can take London right to end."
The mind behind the 67's doesn't give away his secrets. Kilrea credits his scouting staff, but Rangers coach Peter DeBoer knows better. "He's a very smart man," DeBoer said. "He knows what wins this time of year and he probably does a better job than anyone else in the league of surrounding himself with those types of players.
"I've worked with him in all-star games and it's obvious he knows what buttons to push to get the best out of individuals." It could be a sharp bark and a withering stare as easily as a pat on the back and a word of praise, but those players who buy into Kilrea's program more often than not are rewarded for it.
"He's pretty intense. He challenges us all the time," Colbert said. "You get used to it. When I first came here, it was a little intimidating at first, but that's just the way he does it. You take what he's saying and not how he's saying it and put it to use. "The players that have talent and want to work for him do the best they can for him."
Even though they have already secured a berth in the Memorial Cup, the 67's aren't holding anything back in the series against London. "Killer let us know that as soon as we got past Peterborough that we weren't going to be happy just playing in the Memorial Cup," Colbert said. "We got a spot, but it's not going to change the way we play. We want an OHL championship. We want to get there the tough way, the right way."
Kilrea was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the builder's category in 2003 in recognition of over 1,000 wins with the 67's. That same year, Kilrea and 67's owner Jeff Hunt agreed to a contract extension of 10 years, which is job security unheard of at any level of hockey.
http://nhl.speedera.net/photos/k/kilrea_brian_hhof.jpg