Jack Kelley (ice hockey)

John Henry Kelley (July 10, 1927 – September 16, 2020^[1]) was an American ice hockey coach and a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. Kelley was the first general manager and head coach of the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). During the 1972-73 season, he won the Howard Baldwin Trophy as the WHA coach of the year and also led the Whalers to the Avco World Trophy. He previously served as head coach at Boston University, leading the Terriers to back-to-back NCAA hockey championships in 1971 and 1972. In his 10-year coaching career at Boston U (1962–72), he compiled a .720 winning percentage and won six Beanpot Tournaments.

Jack Kelley

Biographical details
Born	(1927-07-10)July 10, 1927 Medford, Massachusetts
Died	September 16, 2020(2020-09-16) (aged 93) Oakland, Maine
Playing career
1948–1949	US National Team
1949–1952	Boston University
Position(s)	Defense
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1955–1962	Colby College
1962–1972	Boston University
1972–1973	New England Whalers
1972–1975	New England Whalers (General Manager)
1975	New England Whalers
1976–1977	Colby College
1977–1981	New England Whalers (General Manager)
1982–1993	Adirondack Red Wings (Dir. of Player Personnel)
1993–2001	Pittsburgh Penguins (President)
Head coaching record
Overall	303-147-12 (.669)
Tournaments	5–3 (.625)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1962 ECAC Hockey Champion 1965 ECAC Hockey Champion 1967 ECAC Hockey Champion 1971 ECAC Hockey Champion 1971 NCAA National Championship 1972 ECAC Hockey Tournament Champion 1972 NCAA national championship
Awards
1962 Spencer Penrose Award 1973 Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame 1993 US Hockey Hall of Fame 2010 World Hockey Association Hall of Fame

Kelley, who was born in Medford, Massachusetts, also played his college hockey at Boston U, participating in the NCAA Hockey Tournament in 1951 and 1952. At the time of his graduation, he was the school's all-time leading scorer among defensemen. He then took over as coach at Colby College in 1955. After leaving the Whalers, he later worked in the front offices of the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins. His son is television writer and producer, David E. Kelley.^[2]

Honors

In 2010, he was elected as an inaugural inductee into the World Hockey Association Hall of Fame in the coaching category.^[3]

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Colby Mules Independent (1955–1961)
1955–56	Colby College
1956–57	Colby College
1957–58	Colby College
1958–59	Colby College
1959–60	Colby College
1960–61	Colby College
Colby College:		73–45–3
Colby Mules (ECAC Hockey) (1961–1962)
1961–62	Colby College	19–6–2	17–1–1	1st	ECAC Third–place game (loss)
Colby College:		19–6–2	17–1–1
Boston University Terriers (ECAC Hockey) (1962–1972)
1962–63	Boston University	7–16–0	7–15–0	22nd
1963–64	Boston University	9–13–0	9–12–0	20th
1964–65	Boston University	25–6–0	15–3–0	1st	ECAC Third–place game (win)
1965–66	Boston University	27–8–0	17–2–0	2nd	NCAA consolation game (loss)
1966–67	Boston University	25–5–1	19–0–1	1st	NCAA runner–up
1967–68	Boston University	20–9–3	13–6–2	5th	ECAC Third–place game (loss)
1968–69	Boston University	19–10–1	13–8–0	6th	ECAC Third–place game (loss)
1969–70	Boston University	20–7–0	17–5–0	3rd	ECAC Third–place game (win)
1970–71	Boston University	28–2–1	18–1–1	1st	NCAA national champion
1971–72	Boston University	26–4–1	15–4–1	3rd	NCAA national champion
Boston University:		206–80–7	143–56–5
Colby Mules (ECAC 2) (1976–1977)
1976–77	Colby College	8–16–0	5–16–0
Colby College:		8–16–0	5–16–0
Total:		306–147–12
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

^[4]

WHA

Team	Year	Regular season						Post season
		G	W	L	T	Pts	Division rank	Result
New England Whalers	1972–73	78	46	10	2	94	1st in East	Won Avco Cup
New England Whalers	1974–75	5	3	2	0	6	1st in East	Lost in Quarterfinals
New England Whalers	1975–76	33	14	16	3	31	3rd in East	Resigned
WHA Totals		116	63	48	5