Wally Kilrea Jr.

Walter Charles "Wally" Kilrea Jr. is an American retired ice hockey forward who was the first 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 Tournament for the first time in 1952. The team finished in 3rd place after losing a nail-biter against Colorado College 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 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 (assists were not an official stat prior to 1934). For his tremendous season, Kilrea was named as an AHCA First Team All-American in 1954. Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1951–52 Yale Pentagonal League — 12 24 36 — — — — — — 1952–53 Yale Pentagonal League — 19 14 33 — — — — — — 1953–54 Yale Pentagonal League — 18 28 46 — — — — — — NCAA totals — 49 66 115 — — — — — —

Awards and honors Award Year NCAA All-Tournament Second Team 1952 AHCA Second Team All-American 1953–54