In 1943, Pilous cofounded the
St. Catharines Falcons, a junior ice hockey team in the
Ontario Hockey Association. Pilous left the Falcons in 1946, spending the 1946–47 season as a scout for the nearby
Buffalo Bisons. Pilous spent the 1947–48 season in Houston, Texas, winning the
USHL Championship. In 1948–49, Pilous led the
San Diego Skyhawks to the
Pacific Coast Hockey League title. After the PCHL, Pilous returned to the team he founded in St. Catharines, now known as the
St. Catharines Teepees. He coached the team to a
Memorial Cup championship in the
1954 Memorial Cup. He was its general manager for the
1960 Memorial Cup victory. Pilous coached the Chicago Black Hawks from
1958 to
1963. In the
1961 Stanley Cup Finals, he led the Hawks to Stanley Cup victory. Between 1956 and 1968, he was the only coach to win the Stanley Cup other than
Toe Blake and
Punch Imlach. Pilous was let go after the 1963 season for
Billy Reay. Pilous coached the
Denver Invaders in 1963–64 to the
Western Hockey League's Governor's Trophy. After a brief stint with the
Hamilton Red Wings, Pilous was hired to be the initial general manager of the expansion
Oakland Seals in 1967. Pilous was quickly dismissed by team owners, and joined the
Denver Spurs of the WHL, building them into a first place team by 1972. Pilous returned to his childhood home in Manitoba, with the
Brandon Wheat Kings and subsequently coaching the
Winnipeg Jets in 1974. Pilous later became general manager, and led the Jets to
Avco World Trophy championships in 1976 and 1978. He was pushed out of the GM position prior to the start of the 1978-79 season, where the Jets won their third and final Avco trophy. Pilous' coaching career ended where it started in St. Catharines 43 years earlier, at the helm of the
St. Catharines Saints from 1983 to 1986. ==Personal life and death==