Brian Blair "Killer" Kilrea (born October 21, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey head coach, general manager, and player. He played 26 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings between 1958 and 1967, with the rest of his playing career, which lasted from 1955 to 1970, spent in American Hockey League. Kilrea then became a coach, and coached and managed the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League for 32 seasons between 1974 and 2015, after which he continued on as general manager. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders category. Playing career Kilrea played his first major junior season with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs in 1954–55. In his playing career he played only 26 NHL games, although he had great success in the minor leagues. Kilrea spent four seasons with the Troy Bruins of the IHL, where he was named a second team All-Star in 1958–1959. Most of Kilrea's career was spent with the AHL's Springfield Indians, where he was a multiple All-Star and the franchise's career leader in assists. He has been named to the Springfield Hockey Hall of Fame. Kilrea played under Eddie Shore and credits Shore with teaching him many things that he took into his coaching career. Kilrea returned to the NHL briefly, with expansion in 1967. Kilrea has the distinction of scoring the first-ever goal for the NHL Los Angeles Kings. It was during his time with the team's AHL franchise that the roots for what would become the National Hockey League Players Association would arise, as a direct result of the efforts of Kilrea and Alan Eagleson, then the agent for Bobby Orr. Coaching career After ending his playing career, Kilrea started coaching minor hockey in Ottawa. He first made a name for himself when his Ottawa West Midget AA team defeated a touring Soviet squad, the only loss by the Soviets on their tour. This caught the attention of the owners of the OHL major junior Ottawa 67's and they soon offered him a coaching job, replacing Leo Boivin at the start of the 1974–75 season. He would continue coaching the 67's until 1984, when he became an assistant coach with the defending Stanley Cup champions, New York Islanders of the NHL. However, after two seasons, he would return to coaching the 67's. Head coach of the