Red Kelly

Who Is Red Kelly?

Red Kelly is a famous Canadian ice hockey player and coach, known for his amazing skills on the ice. He is a very special person who has achieved great things in his life and career. Red Kelly is a name that is loved by many hockey fans around the world.

He is a very talented player who has won many awards and cups. Red Kelly is also a great coach who has helped many other players become better at the game. We are very lucky to have had him in the world of hockey.

Early Life and Background

Red Kelly was born on July 9, 1927.

Career and Claim to Fame

Red Kelly has an official website where you can learn more about him, it is a great place to start if you want to know more about this amazing hockey player and coach.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Red Kelly was born on July 9, 1927, which makes him 99 years old. His zodiac sign is Cancer, which is a very special sign. People who are Cancers are known for being strong and caring, they are also very good at working with others.

Cancers are often very loyal to their friends and family, and they will do anything to help them. They are also very good at sports and other activities that require skill and practice. Red Kelly is a great example of what it means to be a Cancer.

More About Cancers

Cancers are also very emotional and sensitive, they care deeply about the people and things that are important to them. They are very good at understanding how others feel and they are always willing to lend a helping hand.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Red Kelly is a very special person who has done many great things in his life and career. He was born on July 9, 1927, and is 99 years old. His zodiac sign is Cancer, which is a sign that is known for being strong and caring.

We can learn a lot from Red Kelly, he is a great example of what it means to be a good person and a great hockey player. He will always be remembered as one of the best players and coaches in the history of hockey.

Red Kelly has a website where you can learn more about him, it is a great place to start if you want to know more about this amazing hockey player and coach. He is a very talented player who has won many awards and cups, and he is also a great coach who has helped many other players become better at the game.

Red Kelly - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Red Kelly

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly CM (July 9, 1927 – May 2, 2019) was a Canadian professional hockey player and coach. Kelly won eight Stanley Cups, four each with Detroit and then Toronto. These cup victories are more than any other player who never played for the Montreal Canadiens. He was also one of the only two players to have never played for the Canadiens and to be part of two of the nine dynasties recognized by the National Hockey League (NHL) in its history. In 2017, Kelly was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history.

This profile of Red Kelly covers Early Life and Family Background, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins.

While still playing in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, he also served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area York West electoral district from 1962 to 1965. During that time, he also won two more Stanley Cups. Starting in 1967, he retired as a player to become the head coach of the expansion Los Angeles Kings. He would coach another ten years in the NHL, with a stop-over in Pittsburgh and ending with the Leafs in June 1977.

Early Life and Family Background of Red Kelly

Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly was born on July 9, 1927 in Simcoe, Ontario, to farmer Lawrence Daniel and housewife Mary Frances Kelly (née Owen). Growing up in a rural area, he was known as "the red-headed kid" when he would get picked for teams based on his red hair and not by his name. That is how he got the nickname "Red" and was most commonly known publicly by that name. He initially attended high school at Simcoe Composite School before attending Toronto's St. Michael's College high school.

He grew up listening to Foster Hewitt's broadcasts of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey games, and was particularly inspired by the style of their hard-charging defenceman, Red Horner. He continued to play hockey even after not making the Toronto bantam feeder team for the St. Michael's high school team.

His family was Catholic and in 1943, paid for him to attend St.Michael's, which was a Basilian Order Catholic school. In 1944, he made the school's top-tier junior ice hockey team. But 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. With the Majors, he won a Memorial Cup in 1947, as the best junior ice hockey team in Canada. He played with the team until he graduated in 1947.

Detroit Red Wings of Red Kelly

The Maple Leafs passed on Kelly after a scout predicted he would not last 20 games in the NHL (despite the Majors' long relationship with the Leafs) and the 19-year-old joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1947. In 1954 he was runner-up to Chicago's Al Rollins for the Hart Memorial Trophy. On April 29, 1954 Kelly won the inaugural James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top defenceman, getting 162 out of possible 180 votes, with Montreal's Doug Harvey coming in at distant second with 57 points. He 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 and four Stanley Cups. He was chosen as a First Team All-Star defenceman six times.

Kelly played much of the 1958–59 season with a broken ankle. But this was a closely guarded team secret until midway through the next season, a reporter asked Kelly why he had been off his game for much of 1959. Kelly replied, "Don't know. Might have been the ankle." When Red Wings GM Jack Adams got wind of the story, he was furious, and immediately brokered a four-player deal in which Kelly was sent to the New York Rangers. But Kelly scuttled the deal when he announced he would retire rather than go to New York.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs head coach and general manager Punch Imlach stepped in and tried to talk Kelly into playing for him. Though he disliked Maple Leaf Gardens and was still smarting from the scout's assessment of him 13 years earlier, Kelly agreed to be traded to the Leafs. Once Kelly arrived in Toronto, Imlach asked him to switch positions and become a full-time centre, figuring that Kelly could easily match up against the Montreal Canadiens' Jean Béliveau. The switch proved to be a success, as, already a great playmaker, Kelly turned Frank Mahovlich into one of the most lethal goal scorers in NHL history.

Kelly won his fourth Lady Byng Award in 1961. In his eight seasons with the Leafs, they won four Stanley Cups–the same number of times he had 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, Kelly 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.

Over his 20-year playing career, he won eight Stanley Cups, four each with Detroit and then Toronto. These cup victories are more than any other player who never played for the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens ahead of him are: Henri Richard (11), Jean Beliveau (10), Yvan Cournoyer (10), and Claude Provost (9). He was also one of the only two players to have never played for the Canadiens and to be part of two of the nine dynasties recognized by the National Hockey League (NHL) in its history. In 2017, Kelly was named one of the “100 Greatest NHL Players” in history.

Los Angeles Kings

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, but that Los Angeles draft Kelly in the expansion draft, 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. Kelly guided the Kings to second place in the West Division and made the playoffs two years in a row.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Kelly), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.