Chad Kilger

Chad William Lawrence Kilger (born November 27, 1976) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played for several National Hockey League teams, most recently the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Chad Kilger began his playing career by playing two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kingston Frontenacs. He was subsequently drafted fourth overall by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He made the team that fall, but on 7 February 1996 he was traded with Oleg Tverdovsky and a third-round draft pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Teemu Selänne, Marc Chouinard and a fourth-round draft choice, and subsequently spent most of his playing time with Winnipeg's minor league affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.

Kilger's numbers did not improve until he came to the Chicago Blackhawks. In 86 games in parts of two seasons with the Blackhawks, he scored 36 points. In March 1999, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers with Daniel Cleary, Ethan Moreau, and Christian Laflamme for Boris Mironov, Dean McAmmond and Jonas Elofsson, and in December 2000, he was sent to the Montreal Canadiens for Sergei Zholtok. He had early success, but as his ice time dropped so did his point totals. In his first season with the Canadiens he averaged 17:57 in ice time. In March 2004, he was put on waivers and claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Chad Kilger set the unofficial hockey record for the hardest shot on December 3, 2006, when he was clocked at 106.6 mph, beating the old record held by former Sharks defenseman Shawn Heins (106.0 mph). The old NHL record was held by former Capitals defenseman Al Iafrate, whose record was 105.2 mph. Kilger's unofficial record was surpassed when Sheldon Souray fired a 106.7 mph shot at the Edmonton Oilers' skills competition in 2009.

Failure to report to Florida

On the NHL trade deadline date, February 26, 2008, the Leafs dealt Kilger to the Florida Panthers for a third-round draft pick. He immediately requested a leave of absence from Panthers' management, which was granted. However, he did not report to the team at the pre-arranged time, and on March 5, the Panthers suspended him indefinitely without pay. Kilger failed to report to training camp at the beginning of the 2008–09 season, and was officially confirmed to be retired on July 10, 2009.

Kilger and his family currently reside in Cornwall, Ontario, where all three of his children were born. His father, Bob Kilger, was formerly the mayor of the city. Chad was hired as a firefighter for the City of Cornwall post retirement. He has three children they are Kennedy, Kaden and Lydia.