Red Kelly

Red Kelly
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1969

Red Kelly with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Born (1927-07-09) 9 July 1927
Simcoe, Ontario
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 195 lb (88 kg; 13 st 13 lb)
Position Defence (1947–1960)
Centre (1960–1967)
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Red Wings
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 19471967

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly, CM (born 9 July 1927) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach in the NHL. He played on more Stanley Cup winning teams (eight) than any player who never played for the Montreal Canadiens, and is the only player to have never played for the Canadiens to be part of two of the nine dynasties recognized by the NHL in its history.[1] On January 1, 2017, in a ceremony prior to the Centennial Classic, Kelly was part of the first group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.[2] He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area riding of York West from 1962 to 1965, while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Early career

Kelly attended secondary school in that community, then attended St. Michael's College School.[3]

NHL career

Red Kelly with the Detroit Red Wings

The Maple Leafs passed on Kelly after a scout predicted he would not last 20 games in the NHL, and the 19-year-old joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1947. In 1954 he was runner-up for the Hart Memorial Trophy and won the James Norris Memorial 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. In over 12 years as a Red Wing the team won eight regular-season championships, the Stanley Cup four times and Kelly was chosen as a First Team All-Star defenceman six times.

Late in the 1959 season, Kelly broke his ankle. 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. When Red Wings general manager Jack Adams got wind of the story, he brokered a four-player deal in which Kelly was sent to the New York Rangers. Kelly scuttled the deal, however, 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.

Kelly 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. In 1,316 regular season games, he scored 281 goals and 542 assists for 823 points. At the time of his retirement, he was seventh all time in career points, fifth in assists, 13th in goals, and second only to Gordie Howe in games played. In 164 playoff games, he scored 33 goals and 59 assists for 92 points.

Coaching career

After the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967, Kelly announced his retirement as a player, and negotiated with the expansion Los Angeles Kings to be their inaugural coach on the strength of Imlach's assertion that Toronto would not stand in the way of Kelly's coaching career. Imlach insisted, however, that Los Angeles draft Kelly in the expansion draft,[4] and after the Kings failed to do so, refused to release Kelly's rights until Los Angeles traded minor-league defenceman Ken Block to the Leafs.[5][6] Kelly guided the Kings to second place in the West Division and made the playoffs two years in a row.

He left the Kings for a one-year contract to succeed Red Sullivan as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on 2 July 1969.[7] After the Penguins ended the 196970 season with its first-ever playoff appearance and advanced to the semifinals, Kelly signed a five-year, $250,000 contract on 21 May 1970 to continue as coach and also become the general manager, replacing Jack Riley.[8][9] With the team struggling in sixth place in the NHL West Division during a stretch of winning only two of 22 contests and having failed to qualify for the postseason in 197071, Kelly was pressured to relinquish his general manager title back to Riley on 29 January 1972 in order to concentrate on his coaching duties.[10] Amid a slump in which the Penguins won only two games with three draws and seven losses and slid into fifth place in the eight-team NHL West Division, Kelly was fired and replaced by Ken Schinkel on 13 January 1973.[11]

Kelly returned to the Maple Leafs after signing a four-year contract to succeed John McLellan as coach on 20 August 1973.[12] He stayed in the position from the 1973–74 season to 1976–77. The team earned a playoff berth in all four seasons with Kelly as head coach but got eliminated in the quarterfinals each time. A bizarre aspect of his tenure as Maple Leafs coach occurred during the 197576 quarterfinal series when he promoted pyramid power amongst his players to counter the Philadelphia Flyers' use of Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America." He hung a plastic model of a pyramid in the team's clubhouse after a pair of away defeats to start the series. The players embraced the superstition after observing team captain Darryl Sittler first place his hockey sticks beneath the pyramid and then stand under it for exactly four minutes. The Maple Leafs managed to win all three of its home matches before losing the series' decisive Game 7.[13] Kelly was fired at the end of the 1976-1977 season, ending 30 consecutive years at ice level in the NHL. Kelly coached 742 regular season games during his NHL career of which his team won 278, lost 300 and tied 134. He coached 62 NHL playoff games winning 24 of these.[14]

Political career

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly
CM
Member of the Canada Parliament
for York West
In office
1962–1965
Preceded by John Hamilton
Succeeded by Robert Winters
Personal details
Nationality Canadian
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Andra Carol McLaughlin
m. 4 July 1959
[3]

Kelly was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1962 federal election at the York West riding under the Liberal party led by Lester B. Pearson. He defeated Conservative incumbent John Hamilton. He was re-elected there in the following year's election in which his Progressive Conservative opponent was future NHL agent Alan Eagleson. Kelly continued to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs during his terms as a Member of Parliament. During the Great Canadian Flag Debate, he received opposition from Leafs owner Conn Smythe who opposed Pearson's plans to replace the Red Ensign flag with the Maple Leaf.[15] After serving two terms in the 25th and 26th Canadian Parliaments, Kelly left federal politics and did not seek re-election in 1965. He was succeeded in York West by fellow Liberal Robert Winters.

Achievements and facts

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1943–44St. Michael's MidgetsMinor-ON810515
1944–45St. Michael's BuzzersBig-10 Jr. B11151328711168246
1944–45St. Michael's College MajorsOHA-Jr.10000
1945–46St. Michael's College MajorsOHA-Jr.2613112418111017
1946–47St. Michael's College MajorsOHA-Jr.30824321193369
1946–47St. Michael's College MajorsM-Cup955102
1947–48Detroit Red WingsNHL606142013103252
1948–49Detroit Red WingsNHL595111610111126
1949–50Detroit Red WingsNHL701525409141342
1950–51Detroit Red WingsNHL701737542460110
1951–52Detroit Red WingsNHL671631471651010
1952–53Detroit Red WingsNHL70192746860440
1953–54Detroit Red WingsNHL6216334918125164
1954–55Detroit Red WingsNHL70153045281124617
1955–56Detroit Red WingsNHL7016345039102462
1956–57Detroit Red WingsNHL701025351851010
1957–58Detroit Red WingsNHL611318312640112
1958–59Detroit Red WingsNHL678132134
1959–60Detroit Red WingsNHL506121810
1959–60Toronto Maple LeafsNHL18651181038112
1960–61Toronto Maple LeafsNHL642050701221010
1961–62Toronto Maple LeafsNHL5822274961246100
1962–63Toronto Maple LeafsNHL662040608102686
1963–64Toronto Maple LeafsNHL70113445161449134
1964–65Toronto Maple LeafsNHL70182846863252
1965–66Toronto Maple LeafsNHL63824321240220
1966–67Toronto Maple LeafsNHL611424384120552
NHL totals 1316 281 542 823 327 164 33 59 92 51

Coaching record

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
LAK1967–68 74313310722nd in WestLost in first round
LAK1968–69 76244210584th in WestLost in second round
PIT1969–70 76263812642nd in WestLost in second round
PIT1970–71 78213720626th in WestDid not qualify
PIT1971–72 78263814664th in WestLost in first round
PIT1972–73 4217196(73)5th in West(fired)
TOR1973–74 78352716864th in EastLost in first round
TOR1974–75 80313316783rd in AdamsLost in second round
TOR1975–76 80343115833rd in AdamsLost in second round
TOR1976–77 80333215813rd in AdamsLost in second round
Total 742278330134

See also

References

  1. "Stanley Cup Dynasties". National Hockey League. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  2. "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Normandin, Pierre G. (1965). Canadian Parliamentary Guide.
  4. Bob Scott (7 June 1967). "Leafs Want Class For Kelly". The Montreal Gazette. p. 37. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  5. McFarlane, Brian. 50 Years of Hockey. Greywood Publishing Ltd.
  6. "History - Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly". LAKings.com. Official website of the Los Angeles Kings. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  7. "Penguins Hire Red Kelly," St. Petersburg (FL) Times, Thursday, 3 July 1969.
  8. "Red Kelly named coach and G.M. for Pittsburgh," The Associated Press, Friday, 22 May 1970.
  9. "'Second Guessing Plague Of Coaching' Red Kelly," United Press International, Tuesday, 16 January 1973.
  10. "Kelly resigns from Penguins," United Press International, Sunday, 30 January 1972.
  11. "Penguins fired Kelly and hire Schinkel," The Associated Press, Sunday, 14 January 1973.
  12. "Maple Leafs Sign Kelly As Coach," The Associated Press, Tuesday, 21 August 1973.
  13. "Leafs employ 'pyramid power,'" The Associated Press, Saturday, 24 April 1976.
  14. The Sports Hall of Fame Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. 2011. p. 528. ISBN 9781461673705. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  15. Levy, Gary (1 June 1989). "Interview: Leonard (Red) Kelly". Canadian Parliamentary Review. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  16. "Red Kelly". http://oshof.ca/. Retrieved 25 September 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  17. "Toronto Maple Leafs retire the numbers of 17 players". NHL.com. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  18. "100 Greatest NHL Players". NHL.com. January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
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 captain
195658
Succeeded by
Gordie Howe
Preceded by
Don McKenney
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1961
Succeeded by
Dave Keon
Preceded by
Position created
Head Coach of the Los Angeles Kings
196769
Succeeded by
Hal Laycoe
Preceded by
Red Sullivan
Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins
196973
Succeeded by
Ken Schinkel
Preceded by
John McLellan
Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs
197377
Succeeded by
Roger Neilson
Preceded by
Jack Riley
General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins
197072
Succeeded by
Jack Riley
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