OTTAWA - Hall of Famer Brian Kilrea will be celebrating his 80th birthday behind the bench.

The Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67's announced Friday that Kilrea, major junior's all-time winningest coach, will sign a one-game contract to coach the team on his birthday next Friday when Ottawa hosts the Mississauga Steelheads.

"It's going to be an honour to stand with Killer behind the bench," said 67's coach Jeff Brown, who will work with Kilrea during the game. "He is a coaching legend and I think it's a tremendous gesture on the part of the 67's to give fans a chance to wish him a happy birthday doing what he loves best.

"Hopefully some of the Killer karma will rub off on us."

Ottawa is 1-4-0 to start the season.

Kilrea served as head coach of the 67's for 33 seasons, compiling 1,193 wins with Memorial Cup victories in 1984 and 1999. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.