Daigneault, Kilger Making Names Away from Fathers’ Hockey Histories

Valerie Daigneault. Photo Courtesy: Pitt Athletics Media Relations

Even the second time it happened, the Daigneault family swears it was an accident.

When Gabby Daigneault chose to swim at Villanova University, it was sheer happenstance that her father, J.J. Daigneault, played two seasons for the Philadelphia Flyers just down the road, scoring the winning goal in Game 6 of the 1987 Stanley Cup Final.

When younger sister Valerie was vetting her college choices, she fell in love with the University of Pittsburgh, with no regard to the fact that J.J. spent two seasons in the mid-1990s as a Penguin.

“He didn’t even tell me that until after I committed,” Valerie said this week. “… I think it’s just a big coincidence, but it’s awesome.”

The direction of the Daigneault siblings’ college careers highlights another seeming coincidence: Among the ranks of Canada’s elite women’s swimmers, a number can trace their athletic pedigrees to standout hockey-playing fathers. Two in particular, Valerie Daigneault and Ohio State freshman Kennady Kilger, have fathers that combined to play 1,748 games in the NHL, including the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now their daughters are excelling in water of a much different temperature.

Both swimmers say that the athletic mindset of their families was vital in shaping their pursuits.

“He didn’t push us (toward hockey),” Daigneault said. “But we went into swimming, and our competitive drive definitely came from his hockey experience.”

“My parents never put me in hockey, but they put me in lots of other sports,” Kilger said. “I did figure skating and soccer and obviously swimming. They always wanted me to do what I was passionate about and they supported my dreams and my goals.”

From a pool in Arizona …

Valerie Daigneault was born in 1997. She doesn’t remember much of her father as a player, his NHL career ending with a one-game stint with the Minnesota Wild in 2000-01, one game shy of 900 in the league. Her hockey memories are mostly of him as a coach, with J.J. serving as an assistant for the Montreal Canadiens from 2012-18. (He currently coaches junior hockey in Halifax.)

Valerie Daigneault. Photo Courtesy: Pitt Athletics Media Relations

Valerie’s first swimming memories trace to Arizona, where Daigneault played for the Coyotes for two seasons and where Gabby started swimming. Valerie followed her big sister and was instantly hooked.

“Once I started racing, fell in love with the whole process,” she said. “And just because of the weather in Arizona, that kind of pushed us to always want to be in the pool.”

Valerie’s mother, Janie, played basketball in college, so competition was a constant in her upbringing.

It’s paid off for Valerie at Pitt. The senior holds school records in the 100 freestyle (49.36 seconds), the 100 backstroke (53.04) and 200 backstroke (1:54.08) as well as on four of the five relays. This season, she has the Panthers’ top time in her three record events, plus the 200 individual medley. She’s second in the 400 IM and 200 free and third in the 100 butterfly. Daigneault was ninth in the 200 back and 19th in the 100 back at the ACC Championships last year.

Her accomplishments speak to her comfort in Pittsburgh, which goes way beyond her father’s links to the city.

“It’s just a great city,” she said. “I fell in love with the city. And he always said it’s one of his favorite cities he’s ever lived in.”

Following a father’s path

When Kennady Kilger stepped on the ice to compete as a kid, she was always wearing figure skates. That was one of the sports in which she showed early aptitude, along with soccer and swimming. But the eldest of three siblings blazed a path to the pool that the younger Kaden and Lydia would follow.

“I think it was just that I love competing and I love the team aspect but I also love the individual aspect,” Kennady said. “And I always loved swimming and being in the water, so that was always why my parents put me in it. … When it got the point where I had to choose, that’s that one I always came back to.”

Kennady is old enough to remember her dad as a player: She was born in 2001, and Chad Kilger, the fourth overall pick in the 1995 draft by the then-Mighty Ducks, played until 2008. But the biggest commonality was in their journeys to the highest level.

Like Kennady, Chad grew up in Cornwall, Ontario. Chad’s junior hockey days were spent two hours away, billeting with a family in Kingston. Kennady’s journey, at age 15, was double that, moving more than four hours from home to train at Toronto Swim Club.

That part of chasing a sporting dream is something her father directly related to.

“They did everything they could so that I could follow my dreams,” Kennady said. “They were very understanding, and he understood the lifestyle, so that definitely influenced me.”

Kilger, the 6-foot freshman, has adapted well at Ohio State. A mid-distance freestyler by trade, she’s in the mix for the Buckeyes’ postseason relay squads while also a strong butterflyer.

What’s in a name?

Kilger and Daigneault aren’t alone in their family lineages, with many of Canada’s top swimmers only a degree removed from the ice. Taylor Ruck’s father, Colin, played four seasons in the Western Hockey League. Sydney Pickrem’s dad, Darren, played major junior hockey and in minor league pro ranks. Jamie Oleksiak, Penny’s older brother, is a defenseman with the Dallas Stars.

So interconnected is the Canadian sporting realm that Valerie Daigneault and Sydney Pickrem, who know each other well, have crossed paths in the same way their fathers once did.

“It’s kind of insane that so many worlds can cross in that sense, you know this person from hockey and I know them from swimming,” Valerie said. “I don’t know if there’s a natural correlation of why so many hockey players’ daughters have been swimmers, but it’s cool to see that.”

One other constant for the daughters is name recognition, which they always meet with a certain amusement.

“It used to be a lot more common when I was younger, but even now, since I’ve come to Ohio State, it’s happened to me a few times,” Kilger said. “And I think it’s kind of cool, like wow this was so long ago and you still remember the name.”

J.J.’s ties to Pittsburgh provide context when it happens to Valerie.

“It surprises me,” she said. “I feel like the hockey world is honestly a tight-knit community. When they’ve been fans of a team, they’ve been fans forever. I was talking to one guy and I mentioned my last name, and he was like, that sounds familiar to a hockey player and I was like, oh J.J.? And he was like, yeah, oh my god, yeah he played here in ’96. I was like, how do you know this stuff? And he was like, yeah, he had a great time here, a great time there. I was like, yeah, sure.

“It’s just cool to see that people are so invested in their hockey team that they can remember a player who only played for them for one year.”

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