Walter Charles "Wally" Kilrea Jr. is an American retired ice hockey

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who was the first All-American for

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

Career

The son of NHLer

Wally Kilrea Walter Charles Kilrea (February 18, 1909 – July 3, 1992) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 9 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Philadelphia Quakers, New York Americans, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Maroons ...

, Wally Jr. grew up around hockey and when his time came to choose his junior path, Kilrea the younger chose to head to college. He joined Yale's varsity team in 1951, after a year on the freshman team, and provided a spark to the Bulldog's offense. He led the Bulldogs in scoring as a sophomore and helped the team reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

. The team finished in 3rd place after losing a nail-biter against

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

in the semifinal and Kilrea made the All-Tournament Second Team. Kilrea continued to play well for Yale, leading the team in scoring each of his three seasons with the team. He was named

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for his senior season and scored a then-program record 28 assists. Kilrea finished with a new program record of 115 points and was the first Bulldog to hit the century mark (assists were not an official stat prior to 1934). For his tremendous season, Kilrea was named as an AHCA

First Team All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilrea, Wally Jr. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American ice hockey forwards Ice hockey players from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Hershey, Pennsylvania Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey players AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans