Shoots Right Height 1.93 m NHL Draft Undrafted Weight 84 kg | Name Justin Kelly Positions Winger Role Ice hockey | |
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Swe.1 teamFormer teams IF Troja/LjungbyKrefeld PinguineDEG Metro Stars | ||
Justin kelly goal
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.
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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.