Player Profile, Ben Kilgour

Against All Odds: Ben Kilgour
Special Feature for amshockey.com by Brad Lindsey

Ben Kilgour’s start in hockey came at a very early age. Fittingly enough, Ben’s mother Kathi remembers his first sentence as being “Go Getsky (Gretzky) Go” at an Edmonton Oilers game. Later, about the age of 3, a young Ben began to skate and could hardly wait to begin playing hockey. Like so many young sibilings, Ben followed in the footsteps of his older brothers. Despite being years younger, he expected to be able to do all the same things as the brothers that he idolized. Ben would grow up at the hockey rink. As a baby, Kathi would put Ben into older brother Trevor’s hockey bag while she helped Trevor get his skates tight for the day’s play. The first setback for the future captain of the Americans would come at the age of four. The Kilgour’s went down to sign their youngest son up for hockey, but a change to the rules in the offseason had increased the minimum age to five. Heartbroken, Ben would return home and cry for hours. The youngster who had loved hockey from the time he could walk would get his chance the next fall.

“This kid’s way too smart to not be a really good AHL player – and that might be enough for a late round pick. Sometimes those 8th/9th round picks aren’t players you expect to be NHL players, but players you want to fill out your AHL roster and show your real prospects how to play the game.”

Redline Report scout Mike Remmerde on Ben Kilgour
“Whether playing himself or following around his older brothers, Ben was always around a hockey rink. Living in Leduc, Alberta, a rural suburb of Edmonton, hockey was the only game in town during the winter time. Growing up in this farming and oil field town of about 15,000 fueled Ben’s passion for hockey. While playing on local teams in Leduc, Ben enjoyed a tremendous amount of support from the community and he credits much of his early hockey development to that atmosphere.”

Despite being his favorite, hockey was not the only sport Ben played while growing up. He won awards in cross country running, football and soccer. He was a standout all-around athlete in his youth until teams made him choose which sport he was going to concentrate on. Ben was a fierce competitor regardless of the sport. His mother Kathi recalls, “He once displaced his collarbone playing road hockey. The next day he was to play in a soccer tournament. He stood on the sidelines for the first part of the game with his team losing. He talked the coach into tying his sling to his chest and taping his arm to his upper body so he could play. The boys went on to win.”

As Ben began to excel at hockey, he started to get attention from WHL scouts. The young forward’s lanky build turned scouts off as they thought he was too slender to play at the WHL level. Two WHL bantam drafts came and went and Kilgour remained undrafted. Ben graduated to the midget program and played there as a 16-year-old. His play in the competitve Alberta midget program meant that scouts could disregard him no longer. The Americans added him to their protected list and after a season where he posted 42 goals in just 33 games he earned an invitation to the 1998 training camp.

The WHL had finally come calling, but it was a mixed blessing. Young Ben had always dreamed of playing in the WHL and saw it as the gateway to the NHL, the preferred destination of most red-blooded Canadian boys, but the Kilgour’s son had also excelled at academics and a tier II junior career could mean trading hockey for an NCAA education. Both Ben and his parents knew that five-foot-something a-hundred-and-something forwards were a dime a dozen in WHL camps. In the end, the family decided that Ben had come too far to turn back now and he would attend Tri-City’s camp and see what happened.

With former NHL coach Don Hay at the helm, Kilgour took the ice in the fall of 1998 billed as a slender 5’11″ and 145 pounds. Kilgour describes Hay as a defensive coach who demands that you work harder in the defensive zone than you do in the offensive zone. With the strict Hay behind the bench, you did what he wanted or you would not get back on the ice. His experience that first season taught Ben to work harder than he ever had before and take pride in his defensive zone play. Fans in the Tri-Cities certainly noticed the hard work put out by Benny that first season. Despite his slight build, Kilgour created tremendous energy and delivered bodychecks that brought the crowds to their feet. Ben’s hard work and attention to defense earned him increased ice time from Hay and in the end he put together a pretty respectable rookie season. He notched 11 goals and 21 points in 64 games. Both his goal and point total led all AMS rookies. While the season was a downer for the Americans, who finished in last place, it was a stellar year for the young Leduc native.

Now a “veteran” in the WHL, Kilgour was going to be expected to make a bigger contribution in his second season. Don Hay had left the club to again pursue an NHL coaching career. His replacement, WHL veteran and former NHL defenseman Al Tuer, brought many of the same philosophies. Tuer would mold the club into a tough, gritty squad and that would mean Kilgour would be looked to for more offensive production. With plenty of guys around to crash and bang, Tuer wanted Kilgour to show more offensive production, but still have his defensive responsibilites as the top priority. With overager Blake Evans and offensive minded Eric Johansson manning the top two center positions, Kilgour was forced to move to wing much of the time. Kilgour took his shuffling in stride and when Blake Evans was dealt to the Regina Pats at the trading deadline, Ben took over his spot in the depth chart and was the unanimous choice to assume the role of team captain.

In his short stint under Milan Dragicevic and now under current Americans head coach Troy Mick, Ben has gotten a taste of what having a more offensive minded coach is like. He credits both with giving him the confidence to use and develop his offensive abilities. They allowed Ben to be creative and explain what he sees on the ice. Americans fans have been treated to a Ben Kilgour that from game to game might dangle and drag a puck through a defenseman’s legs or knock him senseless with a bodycheck along the end boards.

Whether it has been dropping the gloves, delivering a timely check or taking the extra time to talk to young Americans fans; Ben Kilgour has worn the captain’s “C” proudly. He is quick to volunteer his time to help the youth of the Tri-Cities whether it is a hockey clinic or driving to Spokane to spend the day with a very ill young girl named Caitlin Ford. Ben is quick to credit and thank his coaches, teammates, billets and family for helping him throughout his hockey career. In particular, he credits his family for making sacrifices. To his parents Kathi and Clint, for their investment of their time and money to come visit and support him. To his younger sister Megan, for giving up many hours of school and her own acitivies to support her brother. To his older brothers Trevor and Brad, for letting him hang around them and for always being what big brothers should be.

Ben Kilgour, the hockey player, has overcome great odds to get where he is today. A listed player who ascends all the way to team captain of a WHL team at the age of 18. A 145 pound rookie who can play physical and have a profound effect on a game. Ben’s success is fueled by his tremendous competitive spirit. Anyone who has been around him after being on the losing end of a game, even an intersquad scrimmage, knows that he doesn’t accept defeat with a smile. Even in the most trivial of competitions, he wants to do his best and succeed. That spirit shows through time after time. Whether its sawing a cast off his arm for an evening game in Seattle last season or playing with an L-shaped fracture in his jaw this season, Kilgour is one of the players you feel puts on the skates because he has a true passion for the game. While he hopes to play professional hockey someday, that doesn’t motivate him to give his all every night. The competitive fire burning deep inside does. The high point for Ben is when he is competing against players who play physical and push him to the limit of his abilities, the ones who knock down the skinny kid from Leduc and dare him to get back up…which he always does.

Tri-City American Awards
2001 Most Valuable Player
2001 Most Inspirational
2001 Todd Klassen Memorial
2000 Best Rookie