Quick Facts
PiscesBiography
Justin Kelly (born March 17, 1981 in Abbotsford, British Columbia) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing for the Bietigheim Steelers in the German league DEL2.
Career
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 different teams in three different leagues, AHL, UHL and ECHL, before bringing his game back to Europe: In the course of the 2006-07 season, Kelly featured for three different clubs, including 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 inked 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 Steelers | DEL2 | 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 | ||||