Jack McIlhargey began his hockey career in the minor program at the Burnaby Winter Club, competing in peewee through to juvenile. He played major junior hockey in Victoria and Flin Flon from 1970 to ’72 before plying his trade through the minor system.
McIlhargey made stops with the Jersey Devils of the Eastern league, Des Moines of the International league and Richmond of the American league before making the jump to the NHL. He played three seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers and was then acquired by the Vancouver Canucks in 1977 where he spent the next four seasons.
He retired after three more seasons in Hartford in 1982. In 393 NHL games, McIlhargey scored 11 goals and amassed over 1,100 minutes in penalties. For the past 15 seasons, McIlhargey has been a coach in the Canuck organization and is currently an assistant coach to head coach Marc Crawford.