Kevin Guiltinan's Player Profile:
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=206367
This was in the London Free Press Newspaper:
Eric and Kevin Guiltinan lost their father in a car crash but haven’t lost their drive to succeed
By Ryan Pyette, The London Free Press
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Kevin Guiltinan had a hockey path to choose.
His father Chris, always curious, completely fascinated by the recruiting process, gently fished for more information from his son.
“I remember telling him Harvard and Princeton were interested,” recalled Kevin, a rugged 17-year-old defenceman and Londoner.
Dad’s reaction was classic.
Holy s---.
“He couldn’t believe it,” Kevin said. “He thought it was pretty cool.”
There is little doubt how Chris would regard the conduct of his athletic and academic-inclined sons in the eight months since the popular and passionate London dentist lost in a car accident.
Pretty much the same awe-inspiring way London’s junior B lacrosse team viewed Kevin’s older brother Eric, the 19-year-old defender who didn’t just play in every game after his personal tragedy last spring, but led the team in scoring and pushed the decade-old franchise to its first playoff series victory.
“To play with the same guys I grew up playing with and be the first group to help the Blue Devils make the playoffs, then come back again (last summer) and finish second in the conference and win a playoff round, it was really special,” Eric said.
What pushed him through?
“That’s the way we are as a family,” he said. “We just try to keep going and move past it and not stay still.”
“That’s what our dad would’ve expected him to do,” Kevin added. “Same thing as our mom Lisa (Harkness). She went back to work (as a nurse practitioner) and that’s a credit to her.”
In the fall, Kevin surrendered a chance to play for his hometown Knights in the OHL and headed west to the British Columbia Hockey League, first to Vernon, where the Vipers are building for Royal Bank Cup hosting duties next year, before later being traded to Prince George, where the Spruce Kings are in the title hunt this season.
“It wasn’t the easiest decision to make (NCAA vs. the Knights),” the 6-foot-3, 205 pounder said. “If I was going to play major junior hockey anywhere, I would’ve wanted it to be at home in London.”
Eric, a high school football star with the Western Bowl champion Lucas Vikings, joined the Laurier Golden Hawks as a prize running back recruit. He played five games and saw a lot of special teams duty – but didn’t dress against his hometown Mustangs.
Now he will play under one of Western’s all-time greats — new Hawks coach Michael Faulds.
“I wanted to leave home,” Eric said. “This was a learning experience for all of us this season. We’re a really young team but we’re going to get better as we get older and it’s exciting to be part of this program.”
He is in Laurier’s prestigious honours business program. Brother Kevin finally committed to Harvard and plans to study economics at the United States’ oldest university, starting either in the fall or in 2014.
“That’s a pretty good school for it,” he quipped.
Kevin’s bang-and-crash style has him ranked 141st on the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau midterm draft list. There are only four Canadians on the Harvard men’s hockey roster, including Londoner Conor Morrison, son of Dave, the Toronto Maple Leafs director of amateur scouting.
Kevin played last year at the Vaughan-based Hill Academy run by Knights top bird-dog Lindsay Hofford, on the same team as current London defender Miles Liberati.
Kevin’s mom Lisa doesn’t have a son on the Hunters’ team, but she took in two Knights billets: Liberati and goalie Jake Patterson.
“The two of them combined don’t eat as much as one of the Guiltinan boys,” Kevin joked.
Liberati would’ve loved to play on the same defence as Kevin, perhaps even as D partners.
“But you’re talking Harvard,” the Knight said. “That’s a tough opportunity to pass up.”
Eric is committed to Laurier football, but that hasn’t interfered with his lacrosse dreams. His plan is to play junior A for the Orangeville Northmen, the club that has won three Minto Cup national titles in the last five years.
Blue Devils GM and coach Jeff Williamson thinks Eric and goalie Tyler Glebe, drafted by the Toronto Rock last fall, have real shots at playing in the pro ranks.
“With everything he was going through off the floor, (Eric) went out and played hard every game,” Williamson said. “You don’t see defenders lead teams in scoring much anymore with five on, five off (line changes). He would’ve fit in with the old run-and-gun style.”
Eric and Kevin, despite the kilometres and three-hour time difference, remain close. Mom Lisa held onto a condo in Vernon for B.C. visits.
“Nothing’s really changed,” Eric said. “We’re still really good buddies. We worked out together this summer. Kevin put on 30 pounds in the last year. He doesn’t chirp me about being the big hockey player or anything like that.”
They will always support each other. In their lowest point last May, they were flabbergasted by the gathering of community and friends, including teammates, who showed up to help them mourn.
“It was unreal,” Eric said. “It felt like there were 1,000 people there.”
“It was special,” Kevin added. “Whenever I’m doing something, I just think about my dad and what he would do in this situation. What would make him proud?”
Both of them are off to roaring starts.
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