Wally Kilrea Jr.
Walter Charles "Wally" Kilrea Jr. is an American retired ice hockey forward who was the first List of [Division I AHCA All-American Teams|All-American] for Yale.
Career
The son of NHLer Wally Kilrea, 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 Division I [Men's Ice Hockey Tournament|NCAA Tournament] for the first time in 1952 NCAA Men's [Ice Hockey Tournament|1952]. The team finished in 3rd place after losing a nail-biter against Colorado [College Tigers men's ice hockey|Colorado College] in the semifinal and Kilrea made the List of [NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey All-Tournament Teams|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 team captain 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. For his tremendous season, Kilrea was named as an AHCA First Team All-American in 1953–54 NCAA [men's ice hockey season|1954].