The Kilger Mystery
Chad Kilger was traded to Florida at last year’s trade deadline from the Maple Leafs. But, he never showed up. The unsolved veil that hangs over this case obscures the facts and brings out the speculation – full force. Has he indeed retired, as the Ottawa Sun reported last week, or is there a chance he’ll come back to Hockey one day? Fact is that he’s still suspended by the Panthers for not fulfilling his contractual obligations and it seems implausible we’ll ever see him suiting up in South Florida anyway.
The General Manager of Toronto, Cliff Fletcher, was the one who pulled the trigger on the trade last season, but he did it with some hesitation, as he told the paper: “We talked to Florida late in the day, almost at the deadline. We said no at first. Then I said: ‘What the hell, we’re getting a third-round pick for him.’ So we made the deal, reluctantly. I never thought for a moment that he would retire.” If indeed he has retired. No official news or statement has come from the player himself or his agent to clarify the situation.
The withdrawal from Hockey seems to have come as a bolt from the blue to everyone involved in the trade; Fletcher, his team mates in Toronto and of course the Panthers, as reported by the Ottawa Sun:
"The whole thing caught us by surprise," Mike Kitchen, assistant coach with the Florida Panthers, said. "We wanted Chad because of his size and his speed. We thought he would be a great addition for us. […] I don’t know Chad as a person or the reasons behind what happened. I think he had at least a year left on his contract. You’re playing in the best hockey league in the world. You don’t often see somebody walk away."
Indeed, a situation quite like this one has probably never unfolded in the National Hockey League, certainly the Panthers haven’t experienced anything quite like it.
Chad Kilger was a top prospect and pick from his year group, but never quite materialized into a luminous star of the game. Yet he did play some 714 games in the NHL and would have been projected to have a few more years in him, if he had decided to keep on playing.
Undoubtedly this is one of the more bizarre stories we are likely to see. Of course it could be even more bizarre if some of the massive speculation is correct. Whether he has disappeared together with a former Leafs massage therapist, ballooned to 250 pounds and moved back to his hometown in Cornwall, or left purely for family reasons, we may never know. No point in speculating too much either, even if it is a tantalizing mystery, fact is he’s not here and – that’s that – as far as Panther fans are concerned with the matter.
Bizarre doesn’t even begin to describe this situation. I mean really, how does one, with a contract to fulfill (and a paycheck to pick up) just totally disappear into thin air and doesn’t even have the decency (and yes, in my opinion it’s his obligation to the NHL) to report to the NHL any decision he has made.
I hope that others see this as an absolute NONO and never try it!
Now Chad, tell us, what can be so great that you leave a successfull career in the NHL behind without hesitation?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!