Kelly G. Fairchild (born April 9, 1973) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player. He played in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

and the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

between 1996 and 2002. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1994 to 2009, was spent in various minor leagues, as well as time in Europe and Asia.

Playing career

Fairchild was selected in the

1991 NHL Entry Draft The 1991 NHL Entry Draft was the 29th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York. A total of 264 players were drafted. The worst team in the previous 1990–91 season, the Quebec Nordiques, was give ...

by the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

in the 7th round, 152nd overall. He attended

Grand Rapids High School Grand Rapids High School is a four-year public high school located in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, United States, on 800 Conifer Drive. GRHS offers a wide range of extracurricular activities, and has one of the few competitive field show marching band ...

and was a standout play-maker before committing to a collegiate career with the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1991. In 1993–94, his junior year with the Badgers, Kelly led the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated a ...

in scoring with 64 points and was named to the WCHA's First All-Star Team and finished as a runner up in the

Hobey Baker Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished Ame ...

Award. Prior to his first professional season, Fairchild was traded by the Kings, along with

Dixon Ward Dixon McRae Ward (born September 23, 1968) is a Canadian former National Hockey League right wing. He was drafted in the seventh round, 128th overall, by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Career Ward is the only North Dakota Fig ...

Guy Leveque Guy Scott Leveque (December 28, 1972 – September 27, 2005) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He played 17 games in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings during the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons. Playing career L ...

and

Shayne Toporowski Shayne Angelo Toporowski (born August 6, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger and current college coach. He was drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) in the second round, 42nd overall, by the Los Angeles Kings ...

, to the

for

Eric Lacroix Eric Lacroix (born July 15, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lacroix played eight seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Ottaw ...

Chris Snell Chris Snell (born May 12, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and an amateur scout (Ontario Hockey League) of the Winnipeg Jets. He was drafted in the seventh round, 145th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1991 NHL E ...

and fourth round pick ( Eric Belanger) on October 3, 1994. After two seasons with the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, St. John's he made his NHL debut appearing in a single game and recording an assist in the 1995–96 season. Over the next couple of seasons, Kelly played in 22 further games with the Maple Leafs, but ultimately assigned to minor league affiliates. On July 2, 1998, Fairchild signed a two-year contract with the

. Despite contributing largely to the offense of the

Michigan K-Wings Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, he was only able to make a lone Star appearance in 1998–99. Looked upon as an established minor-league veteran, Fairchild was then signed by the

in 2000. Fairchild was assigned to AHL affiliate, the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

, for the most part of two seasons but played in 10 Avalanche games and scoring his first 2, and only, goals in the 2001–02 season. After totaling just 34 NHL games, Kelly left North America when he signed with

Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also one ...

of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes th ...

in 2002. After a prolific first season in the DEL with Berlin, Fairchild was unexpectedly chosen to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

team to participate in the 2003 World Championships in Finland. As an understrength team, Fairchild scored in the upset loss to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Fairchild finished with 5 goals in 6 games as Team USA finished a disappointing 13th out of 16 teams. Fairchild was then a part of two championships with Berlin in 2005 and 2006 before leaving in 2007 to join the

Vienna Capitals Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey club that participate in the Erste Bank Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Albert Schultz Eishalle. In the 2004–05 season, the Capit ...

in the

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...

. In his last season of professional hockey, Fairchild won the

Asia League Ice Hockey Asia League Ice Hockey ( ja, アジアリーグアイスホッケー; ko, 아시아리그 아이스하키) or ALIH (AL) is an association which operates a professional ice hockey league based in East Asia, with teams from Japan, South Korea, and ...

Championship with the

Nippon Paper Cranes The were an Asia League Ice Hockey team based in Kushiro City in Hokkaidō, Japan. History The club was founded as Jūjō Paper Kushiro Ice Hockey Club in 1949. They adopted the new name Nippon Paper Cranes in 1993 when Jūjō Paper and Sany� ...

in 2009.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairchild, Kelly 1973 births Living people American men's ice hockey centers Colorado Avalanche players Dallas Stars players Eisbären Berlin players Hershey Bears players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Sportspeople from Hibbing, Minnesota Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Los Angeles Kings draft picks Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) players Nippon Paper Cranes players Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) players St. John's Maple Leafs players Toronto Maple Leafs players Vienna Capitals players Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey players