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Dan Kelly
Dankelly
Born Patrick Daniel Kelly
September 17, 1936(1936-09-17)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died February 10, 1989(1989-02-10) (aged 52)
Chesterfield, Missouri, United States
Nationality United States/Canada
Occupation Sportscaster
Years active 1958–1989
Children 6; Including John and Dan P.

Patrick Daniel Kelly (September 17, 1936 – February 10, 1989) was a Canadian-born sportscaster best known for his TV/radio play-by-play coverage of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, from 1968 until his death 21 years later, as well as for his national television work on NHL telecasts in both the United States and Canada.[1][2]

Broadcasting NHL games on national television[]

In addition to his 21 seasons broadcasting the Blues, Kelly broadcast NHL games on national television in the United States and Canada for many years.[2] He broadcast 16 Stanley Cup Finals between 1969 and 1988, working for CBS, the NHL Network, the Hughes Television Network, the USA Network, CBC, CTV, and Global. In addition, he also called select games on ESPN[3][4] in 1985 and was the lead play-by-play announcer of the 1987 Canada Cup and at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, both for CTV.[5][6][7]

Memorable calls[]

He was noted for his ability to project above the roaring crowds at the NHL arenas. He acknowledged that his booming call, "HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!" was patterned after that of the famous long-time NHL announcer Foster Hewitt.

Kelly called two of the most famous goals in hockey history. One was Bobby Orr's Cup-winning overtime goal in 1970:[8][9]

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Bobby Orr... behind the net to Sanderson to OOOORR! BOBBY ORR! … scores, and the Boston Bruins have won the Stanley Cup!

The other was Mario Lemieux's goal with 1:26 remaining in the decisive game 3 of 1987 Canada Cup:[10][11][12]

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Hawerchuk wins it ahead, here's Lemieux poking it to center. Lemieux ahead to Gretzky, has Murphy with him on a 2-on-1. To Lemieux. In on goal. He shoots! HE SCORES!! Mario Lemieux, with 1:26 remaining!

He also called another Stanley Cup-winning goal for CBS as Bob Nystrom won the Cup for the Islanders in 1980:[13][14]

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Islanders' number 10, Henning to Tonelli. Here's Tonelli with Nystrom. The pass to Nystrom – HE SCORES! BOB NYSTROM! And the New York Islanders have won the Stanley Cup!

He also called a Stanley Cup semifinal in 1971 at Chicago Stadium (nicknamed "The Madhouse on Madison"). When the Blackhawks scored an empty-netter to clinch the series, he yelled, "I can feel our broadcast booth shaking! That's the kind of place Chicago Stadium is right now!"[15][16]

Other sports broadcast by Kelly besides hockey[]

Besides hockey, Kelly also broadcast NFL for CBS Sports, as well as Missouri Tigers football, St. Louis Cardinals baseball, and St. Louis Cardinals football for St. Louis radio station KMOX at different times in his career. Dan also broadcast the 1964 Grey Cup from Toronto along with Don Wittman and Bud Grant.

Death and honors[]

Kelly died on February 10, 1989, from lung cancer.[6][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] His sons, John and Dan P., have been broadcasting NHL games for various NHL franchises, including the Blues, for whom John is currently doing the television play-by-play.[24]

Several months after his death, Kelly was the posthumous recipient of the Lester Patrick Trophy and the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.[25][26] In 2006, the St. Louis Blues dedicated the press box at the Enterprise Center in honor of him. In 2017, he was honored with the Missouri Broadcasters' Hall of Fame, and he was elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame six years later.[27][28]

References[]

  1. Caesar, Dan (10 February 2019). Media Views: Remembering Dan Kelly 30 years later.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Caesar, Dan (2014-02-14). Media Views: How Dan Kelly put the Blues on the map (en).
  3. Sarni, Jim (October 10, 1985). ESPN BREAKS THE ICE FOR SPORTS FANS WITH CAPS-RANGERS GAME THURSDAY. Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved on February 9, 2016.
  4. Archives, L. A. Times (September 20, 1985). Stockton, Walker Get a Break as Big Call Goes Their Way (en-US).
  5. Dan Kelly (en-US).
  6. 6.0 6.1 Horrigan, Kevin (February 10, 2024). Remembering broadcasting legend Dan Kelly, 'a friend for life' (en).
  7. Staff, S. I.. Hockey's lord of the rinks (en-us).
  8. Johnson, Drew (2023-05-10). Bobby Orr's Flying Goal (en-us).
  9. Beneteau, Josh. Remember When? Bobby Orr flies through air after winning Stanley Cup (en).
  10. Pinchevsky, Tal. Lemieux's Canada Cup winner remains historic (en-US).
  11. Short, Robin (June 3, 2017). Big goal in '87 came with an assist, albeit illegal one.
  12. LeBrun, Pierre (May 8, 2020). LeBrun: Gretzky and Lemieux on the best series ever – the '87 Canada Cup final (en).
  13. Best, Neil (2020-04-19). Tim Ryan, Steve Albert called Isles games in first Stanley Cup season (en).
  14. Schwartz, Peter (2023-01-17). Schwartz: Islanders to honor Bobby Nystrom Wednesday on his Legends Night (en).
  15. Fischler, Stan. Chicago Stadium had perfect nickname, Fischler says (en-US).
  16. Kagan, Richard (2015-12-07). Memories of "Madhouse on Madison Street": The Chicago Stadium (en-US).
  17. Whitworth, Steve. Broadcaster Dan Kelly, the voice of the St. Louis... - UPI Archives (en).
  18. Lee, Brad (2009-02-11). Remembering Dan Kelly (en).
  19. Archives, L. A. Times (1989-02-10). Hockey Announcer Dan Kelly Dies (en-US).
  20. Archives, L. A. Times (1989-02-11). Dan Kelly, Longtime Broadcaster of Hockey Games, Dies of Cancer (en-US).
  21. Sarni, Jim (1989-02-11). VOICE OF BLUES IS STILLED (en-US).
  22. "Dan Kelly, Hockey Announcer, 52", The New York Times, 1989-02-11, p. 33, Section 1. (en-US) 
  23. "Dan Kelly Was Hockey's Voice", The New York Times, 1989-02-26, p. 9, Section 8. (en-US) 
  24. Pinkert, Chris. Kelly follows in father's footsteps, will call first Stanley Cup Final (en-US).
  25. Podnieks, Andrew (9 October 2009). Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, 425. ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6. 
  26. Fame, Hockey Hall of. HHOF | Foster Hewitt Memorial Award Winners (en).
  27. Pinkert, Chris. Dan Kelly joins Missouri Broadcasters Hall of Fame (en-US).
  28. Late Dan Kelly elected to National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame (en) (2023-01-10).

External links[]

Preceded by
Jay Randolph
Jack Buck
St. Louis Blues radio/television play-by-play announcer
1968-1989
Succeeded by
Ken Wilson
Preceded by
Jim Gordon
Tim Ryan
Marv Albert and Ted Darling
Bob Cole
American network television play-by-play announcer
1969-1972
1978-1980 (with Danny Gallivan, Chico Resch, and Dick Irvin Jr. in 1978; Kelly called the games in Boston and hosted games in Montreal; with Gallivan, Irvin, Gary Dornhoefer, Bobby Orr, and Gerry Pinder in 1979; with Bob Cole and Jim Robson for the first five games; with Tim Ryan for Game 6; Kelly called the first and third periods and overtime)
1982-1985 (with Al Albert in 1985; Kelly called the games in Philadelphia)
Succeeded by
Marv Albert, Ted Darling, and Tim Ryan
Bob Cole
Sam Rosen and Ken Wilson
Preceded by
Danny Gallivan
Bob Cole
Jim Robson
Canadian network television play-by-play announcer
1978-1980 (with Danny Gallivan, Chico Resch, and Dick Irvin Jr. in 1978; Kelly called the games in Boston and hosted games in Montreal; with Gallivan, Irvin, Gary Dornhoefer, Bobby Orr, and Gerry Pinder in 1979; with Bob Cole and Jim Robson for the first five games in 1980)
1985-1988
Succeeded by
Danny Gallivan
Jim Robson
Bob Cole

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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Dan Kelly (sportscaster). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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