Madison Calder, daughter of late NHL player Kyle Calder, remembered her dad on Father’s Day just days after his sudden death.
“Happy Father’s Day, Daddio ❤️ 🕊️,” Madison wrote via her Instagram Story on Sunday, June 21.
She added, “Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you. The biggest teddy bear with the biggest heart. I love you beyond words and miss you.”
Kyle died on June 15 after a “brief illness,” according to the Associated Press. He was 47. An official cause of death has not been released at the time of publication.
In a social media post last week, Madison wrote, “There will never ever be enough words in the world to describe how incredibly lucky I was to have you as my dad.”
“Never in a million years would I have thought this day would come,” she continued. “There will forever be a void in my heart, but forever a spot just for you. The father, husband, son, man, friend, coach, hockey player, and everything in between that you were is truly indescribable. The lessons you taught me, the strength you showed me, and the person you pushed me to become every single day — I carry all of it with me.”
Madison called her late father “my biggest fan through every stage of my life.”
“Thank you for loving me unconditionally,” her post concluded. “I would give anything for one more conversation, one more hug, one more “I love you,” or to hear your voice one more time. I love you more than anything in the world to the moon and back infinitely. Save me a spot on the ice, Dad. I know you’re skating around in heaven cheering all of us on from above. Fly high ♥️🕊️🏒.”
Kyle played 10 seasons in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks. In 590 career regular season games, he scored 114 goals and added 180 assists.
After retiring from professional hockey in 2012, he worked as a youth hockey coach in the Los Angeles area.
Tommy Tartaglione, who coached with Calder in the Los Angeles Jr. Kings program from 2017 to 2022, called him “the best coach and the best guy every time he stepped on the ice.”
“It was so easy for him to relate to every single person,” Tartaglione told The Athletic in a story published on Friday, June 19. “Eight-year-olds loved him, 16-year-olds loved him. The way Kyle treated everyone from his best player to his worst player, everybody felt like they were part of the group. Everybody felt like they had a vested interest in the team because of the way Kyle treated them.”
