Red Kelly
[edit] BiographyLeonard 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).  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.  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[edit] Statistics[edit] References[edit] Related Articles[edit] Recent Red Kelly ArmchairGM Stories
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