Chad William Lawrence Kilger (born November 27, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for several National Hockey League teams, most recently the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As a youth, Kilger played in the 1990 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Seaway Valley minor ice hockey team from Cornwall, Ontario.^[1]

Kilger played two seasons of junior ice hockey in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kingston Frontenacs. He was subsequently drafted fourth overall by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He made the team that fall, but on 7 February 1996 he was traded with Oleg Tverdovsky and a third-round draft pick to the Winnipeg Jets for Teemu Selänne, Marc Chouinard and a fourth-round draft choice, and subsequently spent most of his playing time with Winnipeg's minor league affiliate, the Springfield Falcons.^{[citation needed]}

Kilger's numbers did not improve until he was acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks. In 86 games in parts of two seasons with the Blackhawks, he scored 36 points. In March 1999, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers with Daniel Cleary, Ethan Moreau, and Christian Laflamme for Boris Mironov, Dean McAmmond and Jonas Elofsson, and in December 2000, he was sent to the Montreal Canadiens for Sergei Zholtok. He had early success, but as his ice time dropped so did his point totals. In his first season with the Canadiens he averaged 17:57 in ice time. In March 2004, he was put on waivers and claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[2]

Kilger set the unofficial hockey record for the hardest shot on December 3, 2006, when he was clocked at 106.6 mph (171.6 km/h), beating the old record held by former Sharks defenseman Shawn Heins (106.0 mph; 170.6 km/h). The official NHL record was held at the time by former Washington Capitals defenceman Al Iafrate, whose record was 105.2 mph (169.3 km/h).^[3] Kilger's unofficial record was surpassed when Sheldon Souray fired a 106.7 mph (171.7 km/h) shot at the Edmonton Oilers' skills competition in 2009.^[4]

Kilger and his family currently reside in Cornwall, Ontario, where all three of his children were born.^[2] His father, Bob Kilger was a former Liberal member of Parliament and formerly the mayor of the city of Cornwall. Chad was hired as a firefighter for the City of Cornwall post retirement.^[7]