Mike Kelly (born January 17, 1960) is a Canadian

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 ...

coach and executive. Since 2017, he has served as director of hockey operations of the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

. After an amateur playing career with the Fredericton-based UNB Varsity Reds of the

Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

, Kelly joined the

's (OHL)

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...

as an assistant coach in 1988. He eventually became the head coach of the OHL's

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

in 1994. He returned to UNB in 1996 as head coach, where lead the team to a

University Cup The David Johnston University Cup is a national collegiate sports award, presented annually to the champion of a season-ending tournament played by U Sports men's ice hockey teams in Canada. The UQTR Patriotes are the current champions for the 2 ...

appearance in 1997 and won it in 1998. He returned to the OHL as a head coach of the North Bay Centennials from 1998 to 2002. He also had coaching roles with the Canadian junior national teams from 2000 to 2003. He spent one season as head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

in 2003–04. In 2005, he moved on to professional teams working as an assistant coach under Alain Vigneault with the

Manitoba Moose The Manitoba Moose are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and a member of the American Hockey League (AHL). The team plays its home games at Canada Life Centre, the home arena of its parent club, Winnipeg Jets o ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

, the affiliate of the

National Hockey League 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 ...

's (NHL)

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

. Kelly was then promoted to the same role with the Canucks when Vigneault became head coach before the 2006–07 season and then left in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. Kelly then served as an associate coach under Gerard Gallant with the

Saint John Sea Dogs The Saint John Sea Dogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team was founded as an expansion team in 2005 and play at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. The Sea Dogs became the first tea ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

(QMJHL) from 2009 to 2012, in which the Sea Dogs became the first QMJHL team to have three 50-win regular seasons in a row and the first team to bring a Memorial Cup title to the Maritimes. Kelly won the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Maurice Filion Trophy as the QMJHL general manager of the year. After Gallant left, he became the head coach and general manager for the Sea Dogs for the

2012–13 QMJHL season The 2012–13 QMJHL season was the 44th season of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The regular season consisted of eighteen teams playing 68 games each, began on September 20, 2012, and ended on March 17, 2013. This was the Sherbroo ...

. Kelly was released by the Sea Dogs early into the 2013–14 season. Kelly was hired onto Gallant's staff with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

in 2014 and was fired along with Gallant in 2016. He followed Gallant as an assistant with the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

NHL expansion team in 2017, but was fired with Gallant again on January 15, 2020.

References

External links

Profile at Elite Prospects
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Mike 1960 births Living people Brandon Wheat Kings coaches Florida Panthers coaches Ice hockey people from Ontario London Knights coaches North Bay Centennials coaches Saint John Sea Dogs coaches Sportspeople from Oakville, Ontario Vancouver Canucks coaches Vegas Golden Knights coaches Windsor Spitfires coaches