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In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, the Citizen is rolling out one fact each day for 150 days until July 1, highlighting the odd, the fascinating and the important bits of Ottawa history you might not know about.

Born in 1934, Brian Kilrea is one of Ottawa’s most decorated hockey names, dedicating most of his life to the sport as a player, coach, general manager and scout.

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Kilrea played 26 games in the NHL, one as Gordie Howe’s teammate with the Detroit Red Wings and 25 with the Los Angeles Kings, scoring the team’s first ever goal. His most notable coaching achievements with the Ottawa 67’s include winning the most games in junior hockey history (1,194) and winning two Memorial Cups (1984, 1999). He also became the oldest coach in hockey history when he came out of retirement to work one game, Oct. 17, 2014, four days shy of his 80th birthday and 40 years after coaching his first game for the 67’s.

— Don Brennan