# Patrick J. Kelly (ice hockey)

Patrick J. "Pat" Kelly (born September 8, 1935) is an American retired ice hockey coach who co-founded and served as the first commissioner of the East Coast Hockey League. He is the namesake of the Kelly Cup. Kelly also coached the Colorado Rockies for two years and the Birmingham Bulls in the late-1970s.

## Early life

Kelly was born in Sioux Lookout, Ontario. He played junior hockey with the St. Catharines Teepees of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 1952.

## Career

He played professionally for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, the Trois-Rivières Lions in the Quebec Hockey League, Troy Bruins of the International Hockey League and the Greensboro Generals of the Eastern Hockey League. He helped Crowland capture the 1948–1949 Bantam B Championship of Ontario, beating Peterborough in the finals.

### Coaching and management

Kelly began his coaching career in the Eastern Hockey League with the Jersey Devils and later the Clinton Comets. Clinton was 151–39–28 and won three straight regular season and postseason titles from 1967 to 1970. In the 1967–1968 season, the Comets finished with a 57–5–10 record, making them the only professional team in history to lose only five games or less in a season. In the 1969–1970 season, Kelly was named Minor League Coach of the Year by The Hockey News. Kelly served as head coach and general manager for Charlotte in the Southern Hockey League from 1973–76 guiding the Checkers to a 136–68–12 record, two regular season titles and two postseason titles while earning Coach of the Year honors in the SHL twice.
He coached the Colorado Rockies in the National Hockey League in 1977–78 and is the only coach in history to lead the Rockies into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Following coaching stops in the AHL, Kelly went to Peoria in the IHL where he led the Rivermen to the Turner Cup in his first season behind the bench in 1984–85. He recorded his 800th career win on January 4, 1987 and was inducted into the Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in February 1990. Kelly was inducted into the Roanoke Hall of Fame and the Sports Hall of Fame in his hometown of Welland, Ontario in 1998, and in March 2002 he became the first inductee into the Greensboro Hockey Hall of Fame when the Generals retired his uniform number (5).
Kelly was named commissioner emeritus of the ECHL following the 1995–1996 season, after serving as commissioner for the first eight seasons of the ECHL. He celebrated his 50th season in hockey in 2002–2003.
In 2008, he was inducted into the ECHL Hall of Fame.

## Coaching record
### National Hockey League

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Colorado Rockies | 1977–78 | 80 | 19 | 40 | 21 | 59 | 2nd in Smythe | Lost in preliminary round (0-2 vs. PHI) |
| Colorado Rockies | 1978–79 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 4th in Smythe | Fired. |
| NHL totals | 1977-1979 | 101 | 22 | 54 | 25 | 69 | | 0-2 (0.000) |

### World Hockey Association

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Birmingham Bulls | 1976–77 | 57 | 24 | 30 | 3 | (66) | 5th in Eastern | Did not qualify. |
| WHA totals | 1976-1977 | 57 | 24 | 30 | 3 | 51 | | 0-0 (0.000) |

### Eastern Hockey League (1954-1973)

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Jersey Devils | 1964–65 | 72 | 34 | 34 | 4 | 72 | 4th in Northern | Lost in division semi-finals (1-3 vs. LI) |
| Clinton Comets | 1965–66 | 72 | 41 | 28 | 3 | 85 | 2nd in Northern | Won in division semi-finals (3-0 vs. JON) Lost in division finals (1-4 vs. LI) |
| Clinton Comets | 1966–67 | 72 | 44 | 26 | 2 | 90 | 1st in Northern | Won in division semi-finals (3-0 vs. LI) Lost in division finals (2-4 vs. JER) |
| Clinton Comets | 1967–68 | 72 | 57 | 5 | 10 | 114 | 1st in Northern | Won in division semi-finals (3-0 vs. LI) Won in division finals (4-3 vs. NH) Won Walker Cup (4-0 vs. CHA) |
| Clinton Comets | 1968–69 | 72 | 44 | 18 | 10 | 98 | 1st in Northern | Won in division semi-finals (3-0 vs. LI) Won in division finals (4-3 vs. NH) Won Walker Cup (4-0 vs. NSH) |
| Clinton Comets | 1969–70 | 74 | 50 | 16 | 8 | 108 | 1st in Northern | Won in division semi-finals (4-0 vs. SYR) Won in division finals (4-3 vs. NH) Won Walker Cup (4-2 vs. GBO) |
| Clinton Comets | 1970–71 | 74 | 31 | 32 | 11 | 73 | 4th in Northern | Lost in division semi-finals (1-4 vs. NH) |
| Clinton Comets | 1971–72 | 75 | 30 | 32 | 13 | 73 | 3rd in Northern | Lost in division semi-finals (1-4 vs. JON) |
| Clinton Comets | 1972–73 | 76 | 18 | 51 | 7 | 43 | 3rd in Northern | Did not qualify. |
| EHL totals | 1964-1973 | 659 | 349 | 242 | 68 | 766 | 4 division titles | 46-30 (0.605 - 3 Walker Cups) |

### Southern Hockey League

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Charlotte Checkers | 1973-74 | 72 | 44 | 27 | 1 | 89 | 2nd in SHL | Won in league semi-finals (4-2 vs. GRE) Lost in James Crockett Cup finals (3-4 vs. RV) |
| Charlotte Checkers | 1974-75 | 72 | 50 | 21 | 1 | 101 | 1st in SHL | Won in league semi-finals (4-0 vs. RV) Won James Crockett Cup (4-2 vs. HAM) |
| Charlotte Checkers | 1975-76 | 72 | 42 | 20 | 10 | 94 | 1st in SHL | Won in league semi-finals (4-2 vs. RV) Won James Crockett Cup (4-1 vs. HAM) |
| Charlotte Checkers | 1976-77 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 20 | 3rd in SHL | Promoted to Head Coach of Birmingham Bulls |
| SHL totals | 1973-1977 | 233 | 146 | 75 | 12 | 294 | 2 titles | 23-11 (0.676 - 2 James Crockett Cups) |

### American Hockey League

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Rochester Americans | 1978-79 | 52 | 16 | 27 | 9 | (64) | 4th in South | Did not qualify. |
| Binghamton Dusters | 1979-80 | 30 | 8 | 19 | 3 | 19 | 5th in South | Fired. |
| AHL totals | 1978-1980 | 82 | 24 | 46 | 12 | 62 | | 0-0 (0.000) |

### Eastern Hockey League (1978-1981)

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Salem Raiders | 1980-81 | 72 | 32 | 31 | 9 | 73 | 3rd in EHL | Lost in league semi-finals (2-4 vs. RIC) |
| EHL totals | 1980-1981 | 72 | 32 | 31 | 9 | 73 | | 2-4 (0.333) |

### Atlantic Coast Hockey League

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Salem Raiders | 1981-82 | 47 | 32 | 15 | 0 | 64 | 1st in ACHL | Won in league semi-finals (4-1 vs. WS) Lost in Payne Trophy finals (2-4 vs. MV) |
| Virginia Raiders | 1982-83 | 65 | 20 | 36 | 9 | 49 | 4th in ACHL | Lost in league semi-finals (0-4 vs. CAR) |
| ACHL totals | 1981-1983 | 112 | 52 | 51 | 9 | 113 | | 6-9 (0.400) |

### International Hockey League

| Team | Year | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Regular Season | Post Season |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | Result |
| Peoria Prancers | 1983-84 | 82 | 29 | 48 | 5 | - | 63 | 6th in IHL | Did not qualify. |
| Peoria Rivermen | 1984-85 | 82 | 48 | 29 | 5 | - | 105 | 1st in East | Won in league quarter-finals (4-3 vs. IND) Won in league semi-finals (4-2 vs. FW) Won Turner Cup (4-3 vs. MUS) |
| Peoria Rivermen | 1985-86 | 82 | 46 | 31 | - | 5 | 97 | 3rd in West | Won in league quarter-finals (4-1 vs. MIL Lost in league semi-finals (3-4 vs. FW) |
| Peoria Rivermen | 1986-87 | 82 | 31 | 42 | - | 9 | 71 | 5th in West | Did not qualify. |
| Peoria Rivermen | 1987-88 | 82 | 34 | 41 | - | 7 | 75 | 4th in West | Lost in league quarter-finals (3-4 vs. SL) |
| IHL totals | 1983-1988 | 410 | 188 | 191 | 10 | 21 | 407 | 1 division title | 21-17 (0.553 - 1 Turner Cup) |