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 IF Troja-Ljungby is a Swedish ice hockey club from Ljungby, Sweden. They are currently playing in the third highest league in Sweden, Hockeyettan Hockeyettan is the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. As of the 2015–16 season, the league c ...

. 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 The Steinbach Black Wings Linz are a member of the Austrian Hockey League. They play their home games in Linz, Austria at the Keine Sorgen EisArena. History The EHC Black Wings Linz was founded in 1992. After several years in the Austrian minor ...

of Austria and

Val Pusteria The Puster Valley ( it, Val Pusteria ; german: Pustertal, ) is one of the largest longitudinal valleys in the Alps that runs in an east-west direction between Lienz in East Tyrol, Austria, and Mühlbach near Brixen in South Tyrol, Italy. The Sou ...

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 The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

(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

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

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Justin 1981 births Adirondack Frostbite players SC Bietigheim-Bissingen players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Canadian ice hockey right wingers EHC Black Wings Linz players DEG Metro Stars players Deggendorfer SC players Ice hockey people from British Columbia Johnstown Chiefs players Krefeld Pinguine players Las Vegas Wranglers players Living people Lowell Lock Monsters players EHC Olten players Prince Albert Raiders players HC Pustertal Wölfe players Ravensburg Towerstars players Saskatoon Blades players Spokane Chiefs players Sportspeople from Abbotsford, British Columbia Springfield Falcons players IF Troja/Ljungby players