Steve Kelly

Steve Kelly (born October 26, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota Wild.

Playing career Kelly played his junior hockey with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League (WHL), where he compiled 254 points in 268 games. In 1995–96, Kelly tallied 101 points and 203 penalty minutes to lead the Raiders to a 47-win season and second place in the WHL Eastern Division. Kelly was then drafted in the first round, sixth overall, of the 1995 NHL entry draft by the Edmonton Oilers.

Despite his high draft status, Kelly has never appeared in more than 43 games in an NHL season and has just 21 points in 147 games. Kelly played just 27 games for the Edmonton Oilers during the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons before being traded in February 1998 to the Tampa Bay Lightning along with Bryan Marchment and Jason Bonsignore in exchange for Roman Hamrlík and Paul Comrie.

After 58 games over two seasons with the Lightning, Kelly was sent to the New Jersey Devils prior to the 1999–2000 season, where he spent the majority of the season with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Albany River Rats. Kelly notched 57 points for Albany, but made just one appearance with the Devils. However, injuries during the Devils' playoff run forced Kelly into the NHL lineup, where he appeared in 10 games during the Devils' Stanley Cup-winning drive. In February 2001, after 25 games in New Jersey, Kelly was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for forward Bob Corkum. With L.A.'s AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, Kelly enjoyed his best statistical seasons as a pro, amassing 133 points in just 113 games from 2002–2004, and represented the Canadian All-Stars in the 2004 AHL All-Star Classic.

Following the 2003–04 season, Kelly signed in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) with Adler Mannheim. In November 2005, Kelly signed with the Frankfurt Lions of the same league, where he scored 20 points in 22 games. In 2007, he signed with the Minnesota Wild and spent much of the season with the team's AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, before being called up at the end of the season to fill in at center. After being signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets and sent down to their affiliate the Syracuse Crunch, Kelly chose to return to Europe by signing a one-year contract with HDD Olimpija Ljubljana in Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. However, after posting 3 points in only his second game in the 2009–10 season, Kelly suffered a season-ending injury and decided to terminate his contract and retire from professional hockey in order to return to Canada.

While showing promise at the beginning of his pro career, Kelly is often regarded as a draft bust during his NHL career. Many fans and media expected the Oilers to draft Shane Doan (an obvious choice who was drafted next by Winnipeg, and later become the captain of the Jets/Coyotes franchise), or Jarome Iginla (an Edmonton native and junior teammate of Doan's), but Edmonton drafted Kelly sixth overall instead.

Personal life After retiring, Kelly joined the Calgary Police Service as a police officer.

Career statistics Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1992–93 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 65 11 9 20 75 — — — — — 1993–94 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 65 19 42 61 106 — — — — — 1994–95 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 68 31 41 72 153 15 7 9 16 35 1995–96 Prince Albert Raiders WHL 70 27 74 101 203 18 13 18 31 47 1996–97 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 48 9 29 38 111 11 3 3 6 24 1996–97 Edmonton Oilers NHL 8 1 0 1 6 6 0 0 0 2 1997–98 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 5 0 1 1 6 — — — — — 1997–98 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 11 2 8 10 18 — — — — — 1997–98 Edmonton Oilers NHL 19 0 2 2 8 — — — — — 1997–98 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 5 1 1 2 29 1 0 1 1 0 1997–98 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 24 2 1 3 15 — — — — — 1998–99 Cleveland Lumberjacks IHL 18 6 7 13 36 — — — — — 1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 34 1 3 4 27 — — — — — 1999–00 Detroit Vipers IHL 1 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 1999–2000 Albany River Rats AHL 76 21 36 57 131 3 1 1 2 2 1999–2000 New Jersey Devils NHL 1 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 4 2000–01 New Jersey Devils NHL 24 2 2 4 21 — — — — — 2000–01 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 1 0 1 4 8 0 0 0 2 2001–02 Manchester Monarchs AHL 49 10 21 31 88 5 1 8 9 4 2001–02 Los Angeles Kings NHL 8 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 2002–03 Manchester Monarchs AHL 54 19 44 63 144 3 0 1 1 0 2002–03 Los Angeles Kings NHL 15 2 3 5 0 — — — — — 2003–04 Manchester Monarchs AHL 59 21 49 70 117 1 0 0 0 2 2003–04 Los Angeles Kings NHL 3 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2004–05 Adler Mannheim DEL 46 11 22 33 210 12 1 4 5 72 2005–06 Adler Mannheim DEL 19 4 17 21 44 — — — — — 2005–06 Frankfurt Lions DEL 22 6 14 20 119 — — — — — 2006–07 Frankfurt Lions DEL 47 9 29 38 209 8 2 8 10 30 2007–08 Houston Aeros AHL 48 10 18 28 81 3 0 0 0 6 2007–08 Minnesota Wild NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2008–09 Syracuse Crunch AHL 45 10 12 22 74 — — — — — 2009–10 HDD Olimpija Ljubljana EBEL 2 1 2 3 2 — — — — — AHL totals 390 102 217 319 764 26 5 13 18 38 NHL totals 149 9 12 21 83 25 0 0 0 8 DEL totals 134 30 82 112 582 20 3 12 15 102