photo: Dave Sandford/HHOF
Former Team Canada and NHL player Kyle Calder passed away Monday after a brief illness. He was just 47 years of age.
Calder won a gold medal with Canada at the 2003 IIHF World Championship and a silver medal at the 1999 World Juniors in Winnipeg. He also played for five NHL teams over a career that spanned 590 games and ten seasons.
“There will never ever be enough words in the world to describe how incredibly lucky I was to have you as my dad,” his daughter, Madison “Annie” Calder, wrote in a social media post. “Never in a million years would I have thought this day would come. There will forever be a void in my heart, but forever a spot just for you.”
Calder retired in 2012, and since 2018 had spent most of his years coaching kids’ teams in various cities he knew from his NHL days, including Chicago and Boston. Most recently he coached the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, from 2020 to 2022.
Added the NHL Alumni Association: “He was tough as nails on the ice, a fierce competitor who never backed down, yet behind that grit was a teddy-bear heart. Kyle cared deeply for his teammates, friends, and everyone fortunate enough to know him. He was a protector, a loyal friend, and someone who always put others before himself.”
An Albertan by birth, Calder played four years of junior hockey with the Regina Pats, starting in 1995. Two years later, he was selected 130th overall by Chicago in the 1997 NHL draft, and in 1999 he played at the World Junior Championship. Calder scored two goals, including the opening goal of a 6-4 win over Finland during the round robin and the final goal in a 6-1 win over Sweden. Canada went on to win a silver medal in front of a raucous home crowd.
Calder made his NHL debut during the 1999-2000 season with the Blackhawks, the team for whom he played the first six seasons of his career. He made his senior debut with Team Canada at the 2002 World Championship, a disappointing sixth place finish, but a year later he was part of an impressive team that included goalies Sean Burke and Roberto Luongo and skaters Patrick Marleau, Daniel Briere, Jay Bouwmeester, and Dany Heatley.
Canada won gold that year thanks to a golden goal by Anson Carter, made famous by a lengthy video review to confirm the goal. Calder scored one goal at that tournament, the critical go-ahead goal early in the third period of a wild 8-4 win over the Czech Republic in the semi-finals.
Calder also played at the 2006 Worlds, a fourth-place finish, and he also appeared in 18 playoff games in the NHL. He had consecutive seasons of 20 goals or more with Chicago, first in 2003-2004 when he had 21 and then, after the lockout, a career-best 26 in 2005-06, when he also finished with 59 points.
Daughter Annie ended her post with: "I love you more than anything in the world to the moon and back infinitely. Save me a spot on the ice, Dad.”
Calder won a gold medal with Canada at the 2003 IIHF World Championship and a silver medal at the 1999 World Juniors in Winnipeg. He also played for five NHL teams over a career that spanned 590 games and ten seasons.
“There will never ever be enough words in the world to describe how incredibly lucky I was to have you as my dad,” his daughter, Madison “Annie” Calder, wrote in a social media post. “Never in a million years would I have thought this day would come. There will forever be a void in my heart, but forever a spot just for you.”
Calder retired in 2012, and since 2018 had spent most of his years coaching kids’ teams in various cities he knew from his NHL days, including Chicago and Boston. Most recently he coached the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, from 2020 to 2022.
Added the NHL Alumni Association: “He was tough as nails on the ice, a fierce competitor who never backed down, yet behind that grit was a teddy-bear heart. Kyle cared deeply for his teammates, friends, and everyone fortunate enough to know him. He was a protector, a loyal friend, and someone who always put others before himself.”
An Albertan by birth, Calder played four years of junior hockey with the Regina Pats, starting in 1995. Two years later, he was selected 130th overall by Chicago in the 1997 NHL draft, and in 1999 he played at the World Junior Championship. Calder scored two goals, including the opening goal of a 6-4 win over Finland during the round robin and the final goal in a 6-1 win over Sweden. Canada went on to win a silver medal in front of a raucous home crowd.
Calder made his NHL debut during the 1999-2000 season with the Blackhawks, the team for whom he played the first six seasons of his career. He made his senior debut with Team Canada at the 2002 World Championship, a disappointing sixth place finish, but a year later he was part of an impressive team that included goalies Sean Burke and Roberto Luongo and skaters Patrick Marleau, Daniel Briere, Jay Bouwmeester, and Dany Heatley.
Canada won gold that year thanks to a golden goal by Anson Carter, made famous by a lengthy video review to confirm the goal. Calder scored one goal at that tournament, the critical go-ahead goal early in the third period of a wild 8-4 win over the Czech Republic in the semi-finals.
Calder also played at the 2006 Worlds, a fourth-place finish, and he also appeared in 18 playoff games in the NHL. He had consecutive seasons of 20 goals or more with Chicago, first in 2003-2004 when he had 21 and then, after the lockout, a career-best 26 in 2005-06, when he also finished with 59 points.
Daughter Annie ended her post with: "I love you more than anything in the world to the moon and back infinitely. Save me a spot on the ice, Dad.”