Red Kelly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Position	Defenceman/Centre
Shot	Left
Nickname	Red
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 195 lb (89 kg)
Pro Clubs	Detroit Red Wings Toronto Maple Leafs
Nationality	Canada
Born	July 9, 1927, Simcoe, ON, CAN
Pro Career	1947 – 1967

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly, CM (born 9 July 1927 in Port Dover, Ontario) is a Canadian former hockey player in the NHL.

Kelly grew up listening to Foster Hewitt's broadcasts of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and was particularly inspired by the style of their hard-charging defenceman, Red Horner. However, while playing junior hockey for the St. Michael's Majors, he was encouraged to refine his style by his coach, former Leaf great Joe Primeau.

Although the Majors were usually a talent pipeline for the Leafs, they passed on Kelly after a scout predicted he wouldn't last 20 games in the NHL, and the nineteen year-old joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1947. In over 12 years as a Red Wing the team won 8 regular-season championships, the Stanley Cup 4 times and Kelly was chosen as a first team All-Star team 6 times.

In 1954 he won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman, the first time the trophy was awarded and also won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1951, 1953, and 1954 as the NHL's most gentlemanly player.

An exceptional player at both ends of the ice, Kelly was known not only for his great checking skills as a defenceman, but also for his exceptional puck-handling and passing skills as well. Kelly used all these elements to help the Red Wings move the puck down the ice very quickly. When injuries hampered the team, he sometimes played as a forward (a position he adapted to easily when needed).

1963: Kelly signs the guestbook at Toronto's City Hall

Late in the 1958-59 season, Kelly broke his ankle. However, the Red Wings kept the injury a secret, and Kelly played through the pain as the Red Wings missed the playoffs for the first time in 21 years. However, midway through the next season, a reporter asked Kelly why he'd been off his game for much of 1959. Kelly replied, "Don't know. Might have been the ankle." When Red Wings general manager Jack Adams got wind of the story, he was furious, and immediately levered a four-player deal in which Kelly was sent to the New York Rangers.

However, Kelly scuttled the deal when he announced he would retire rather than go to New York. Maple Leafs head coach Punch Imlach stepped in and tried to talk Kelly into playing for him. Though he disliked Maple Leaf Gardens and as a young player was disappointed by the scathing assessment of that Toronto scout, Kelly agreed to be traded to the Leafs.

Once Kelly arrived in Toronto, he became a full-time forward, playing at Centre and became a great playmaker turning Frank Mahovlich into a lethal goal scorer. He won his fourth Lady Byng Award in 1961. In his eight seasons with the Leafs, they won the Stanley Cup four times - the same number of times he'd won in Detroit. Kelly is the only player to have won the Cup eight times without having played for the Montreal Canadiens.

1967: Kelly,right,with Frank Mahovlich and Toronto's last Stanley Cup.

Kelly was popular enough that from 1962-1965, not only did he play hockey, he was also the Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area riding of York West. After the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967, the Maple Leafs allowed the Los Angeles Kings to draft him so he could become their first coach. Despite being the only rookie coach, and being in charge of the favorites to finish last, he guided the Kings to second place in the West Division and made the playoffs two years in a row.

In 1969-70, Kelly moved on to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins for three seasons, making the playoffs in his first and last seasons with the team. Kelly returned to the Maple Leafs as coach in 1973. He stayed in the position from 1973-74 to 1976-77. The team earned a playoff berth in all 4 seasons with Kelly as head coach but got eliminated in the quarterfinals each time.

His final regular season coaching record was 261-311-128.

In 1,316 regular season games, he scored 281 goals and 542 assists for 823 points. In 164 Playoff games, he scored 33 goals and 59 assists for 92 points.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

In 1998, he was ranked number 22 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2001, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

On October 4th, 2006, he and his number were honored by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by Edgar Laprade	Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 1951	Succeeded by Sid Smith
Preceded by Sid Smith	Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 1953, 1954	Succeeded by Sid Smith
Preceded by New Award	Winner of the Norris Trophy 1954	Succeeded by Doug Harvey
Preceded by Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings captains 1956-58	Succeeded by Gordie Howe
Preceded by Don McKenney	Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 1961	Succeeded by Dave Keon
Preceded by John Hamilton	Member of Parliament from York West 1962-1965	Succeeded by Robert Winters

Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coaches
Sullivan • Kelly • Schinkel • Boileau • Wilson• Johnston • Angotti • Berry • Creamer • Ubriaco • Patrick • Johnson • Bowman • Constantine • Brooks • Hlinka • Kehoe • Olczyk • Therrien