Two Kilgers, One Dream

It began as a practical joke, in the form of a gag gift given to Bob Kilger by his brother-in-law last Christmas.

Kilger opened the box and the first thing he saw was a Mighty Ducks baseball cap.

Beneath that, a Mighty Ducks golf shirt.

And, finally, on the bottom, an intricately carved wooden duck.

Kilger is deputy speaker in Canada’s House of Commons, a minister of Parliament representing the Cornwall, Ontario, area. He is a political heavyweight north of the border. His position has been described as, roughly, the Canadian equivalent to Bob Dole.

Bob Dole doesn’t get Mighty Ducks wear for Christmas.

Of course, Dole isn’t the father of a top-five NHL prospect, either. Last December, Chad Kilger was an 18-year-old center for the Kingston Frontenacs in the Ontario Hockey League. Scouts were telling Chad he’d be a lottery pick in the upcoming draft. Chad had seen the Ducks on the family satellite dish. He’d been to Maine to see Paul Kariya play in college. He hadn’t been to Anaheim, but he heard it was a warm place.

Eventually, it became a running joke in the Kilger household.

“Bob, your boy wants to be a Duck.”

The condition worsened when the Ducks flew Chad out for a pre-draft interview, workout and quasi-recruiting trip. Chad took in all the requisite sights: Disneyland, an Angels game, an event at The Pond. The Ducks gave him the hard sell.

“By the time he came home,” Bob Kilger recalled, “he was really wound up. I’m sure his brothers could tell you he came back thinking, ‘God, if it could just happen.’ ”

For it to happen, though, the stars had to be properly aligned. The stars and a few defensemen. With the Ducks sitting fourth in Saturday’s draft, three defensemen likely had to be chosen for Kilger to slide into range. Before Saturday, three defensemen had never been taken with the first three selections in an NHL draft.

But there it was, in lower-case type on ESPN2:

Bryan Berard, defenseman, to the Ottawa Senators.

Wade Redden, defenseman, to the New York Islanders.

Aki-Petteri Berg, defenseman, to the Los Angeles Kings.

For the Kilgers, the Ducks had come home to roost.

“In the hockey business, anything can happen,” Bob Kilger said. “At this level, Dad has no influence.

“Today, we won the lottery.”

The Ducks didn’t fare badly on their end, either. Pre-draft, the Ducks’ roster showed Guy Hebert in goal, a handful of dependable defensemen to protect that goal and an undersized left winger named Kariya. What the roster lacked was a center to post up for Kariya, to clear out space on the ice for Kariya, to lean hard in front of the net and knock in centering passes from Kariya.

At a mobile 6 feet 3 and 215 pounds and growing, Kilger was the round peg the round hole required.

“We’re happy as heck here at the table,” Ducks Coach Ron Wilson said via conference call from Edmonton. “We assumed we might be getting a defenseman or someone else [who was projected to be] a good second- or third-line player in a couple of seasons.

“We ended up with someone, people have told us, who could end up a No. 1 center-ice man on just about any team in the league . . .

“I wouldn’t say center is our weakest position, but we need people in the middle who can make plays. We’ve got people like Steve Rucchin and Bob Corkum who are great at neutralizing players on the other team and working in the corners. But--and this is not a knock on them--they’re not going to score 100 points, or 80 or 90, in the National Hockey League. Without that kind of center, you’re just simply not going to win the Stanley Cup.

“So, we might have found that kind of player today.”

Kilger scored 42 goals and had 95 points in 65 games with Kingston last season. Scouts have compared him to Pittsburgh’s Ron Francis, just voted the Selke Award as the NHL’s best defensive forward, and Edmonton’s Jason Arnott, who just missed winning the league’s top rookie award in 1994. He comes from good hockey stock, too. Before his career in politics, Bob Kilger was Bobby Orr’s defensive partner in the junior leagues and later an NHL referee for 10 seasons.

“Now,” Chad said, “he’s kind of like refereeing the House of Commons, keeping peace on both sides.”

Bob also coached the Cornwall Royals of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to the 1981 Memorial Cup. That team included Doug Gilmour and Dale Hawerchuk, who helped indoctrinate young Chad to the game, and the games within the game.

“I was 3 or 4 at the time,” Chad remembered, “and they used to play practical jokes on me on the bus. I was the little kid hanging around the team. They’d tell me to go do something and I’d go do it.”

That won’t work anymore. When Kilger meets up with Gilmour and Hawerchuk next, it will be on major-league ice, possibly as soon as next season. When he does, “Go find the penalty box and bring it to me” isn’t going to cut it.

No, payback time is approaching fast.

Elbows-in-waiting, past due for about 15 years.

If the Ducks have guessed correctly, Bob Kilger may soon have to relinquish the crown of Biggest Name In The Family.

“Now, I’m the father of the son,” Bob Kilger said with a laugh. “I have an identity crisis on my hands.”

At least he has a head start on the souvenirs.