Justin Kelly

Justin Kelly (born March 17, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player.

Career Kelly was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Kelly spent five seasons in the WHL, including three and a half with the Saskatoon Blades. In 2001-02, he tallied 86 points (39 goals, 47 assists) in 72 games for the Blades, which ranked him tenth in the league.

The 2002-03 season saw him skate for Swedish side IF Troja/Ljungby.

Upon his return from Europe, Kelly spent three years playing on five teams in three leagues, AHL, UHL and ECHL, before bringing his game back to Europe: In the course of the 2006-07 season, Kelly featured for three clubs: Eishockey-Club Olten of Switzerland, EHC Linz of Austria and Val Pusteria of Italy.

Kelly embarked on a three-year stint with German second-division club Bietigheim Steelers in 2008 and would make 129 DEL2 appearances in three seasons, amassing a total of 167 points (64 goals, 103 assists). In 2009-10, he received Player of the Year honors. That attracted the attention of German top-tier side Krefeld Pinguine, who signed Kelly for the 2010-11 Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) season. He moved to fellow DEL club DEG Metro Stars for the following campaign, which was hampered by a knee injury sustained in October 2011.

The 2012-13 season saw him return to IF Troja/Ljungby of Sweden, where he had signed his first overseas contract ten years earlier. Kelly then signed a deal with the Ravensburg Towerstars for the 2013-14 campaign, which turned out to be a very successful one: He scored 32 goals on the season to go along with 58 assists for a shared top spot in the DEL2 scoring ranks.

Kelly then returned to the Bietigheim Steelers for the 2014-15 season and in June 2015, had his contract renewed for 2015-16. In the 2015-16 season, he led the DEL2 in scoring with 85 points and for the second time was named DEL2 Player of the Year.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1997–98 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 22 4 8 12 2 — — — — — 1997–98 Spokane Chiefs WHL 13 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1998–99 Saskatoon Blades WHL 20 3 5 8 6 — — — — — 1998–99 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 30 3 4 7 13 — — — — — 1999–00 Saskatoon Blades WHL 54 6 11 17 36 11 0 1 1 9 2000–01 Saskatoon Blades WHL 60 16 40 56 38 — — — — — 2001–02 Saskatoon Blades WHL 72 39 47 86 47 7 4 2 6 4 2002–03 IF Troja-Ljungby Allsvenskan 23 11 13 24 14 10 4 5 9 14 2003–04 Las Vegas Wranglers ECHL 31 12 11 23 20 2 1 0 1 0 2003–04 Lowell Lock Monsters AHL 34 4 5 9 10 — — — — — 2004–05 Adirondack Frostbite UHL 57 23 42 65 29 6 2 4 6 2 2004–05 Springfield Falcons AHL 4 2 1 3 0 — — — — — 2005–06 Johnstown Chiefs ECHL 59 31 40 71 45 5 2 2 4 2 2005–06 Springfield Falcons AHL 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2006–07 EHC Olten NLB 10 4 6 10 6 — — — — — 2006–07 EHC Linz EBEL 11 6 9 15 10 — — — — — 2006–07 HC Pustertal Wölfe Italy 22 12 19 31 20 8 5 10 15 10 2007–08 Bietigheim Steelers DEL2 32 14 18 32 18 5 0 2 2 6 2008–09 Bietigheim SteelersDEL2 48 26 37 63 40 12 8 8 16 4 2009–10 Bietigheim Steelers DEL2 49 24 48 72 54 12 6 10 16 14 2010–11 Krefeld Pinguine DEL 52 11 18 29 16 8 1 3 4 2 2011–12 DEG Metro Stars DEL 14 0 2 2 4 7 1 1 2 18 2012–13 IF Troja-Ljungby Allsvenskan 46 21 19 40 36 — — — — — 2013–14 Bietigheim Steelers DEL2 54 32 58 90 46 7 3 3 6 8 2014–15 Bietigheim Steelers DEL2 15 13 11 24 6 14 6 12 18 8 2015–16 Bietigheim Steelers DEL2 52 34 51 85 53 11 4 15 19 4 AHL totals 43 6 6 12 14 — — — — — DEL totals 66 11 20 31 20 15 2 4 6 20

Awards and honours Award Year WHL East Second All-Star Team 2002