2019 an honor long overdue was finally righted, the retirement of the No. 4 by the Detroit Red Wings, the sweater worn by Red Kelly, one the greatest to ever lace-up a pair of skates. Kelly, who joins me on this episode of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes, along with Waxy Gregoire, co-author of “The Red Kelly Story,” played over 12 years for the Red Wings and helped lead them out of doldrums into becoming one of the best teams in the NHL. The Red Wings were perennial losers until Red joined the team. While there, Detroit won four Stanley Cups. But a bitter battle between Jack Adams and Red resulted in Red being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. What kind of effect did he have on both teams? After his trade to Toronto, it took the Red Wings another 42 years to win the Cup. Red’s last year with Toronto was 1967, which also marks the last time Toronto won the Cup. In all, Red Kelly played on eight teams that won the Stanley Cup Championship, the most by any player to have never played for the Montreal Canadiens. More amazingly was the fact that, while with Toronto, Red also served his country as a member of the House of Commons. Later, after he retired, Red coached the expansion Los Angeles Kings and followed that by coaching the Pittsburgh Penguins before ending his career as coach of the Maple Leafs. On this episode of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes, we’re going to take a look back at the marvelous and Hall of Fame career of Patrick “Red” Kelly.
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