Detroit Red Wings Retire Red Kelly’s Number

By Tyler Samson | Feb 3, 2019

DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 01: Former Detroit Red Wing Leonard 'Red' Kelly (center) and wife Andra Kelly (right) with family as his No. 4 jersey was raised to the rafters during a ceremony prior to an NHL game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena on February 1, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) /

On February 1st, the Detroit Red Wings bestowed Red Kelly with one of the highest honors in sports by retiring his number.

Red Kelly, one of the greatest Detroit Red Wings players of all time, had his playing number, four, retired on February 1st. The 91-year-old was honored before the Red Wings faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which were the only two teams Kelly played for in his entire 20-year career.

He broke into the NHL in the 1947-48 season with the Red Wings when he was only 20 years old. The 1947-48 season would embark the first of Kelly’s 13 seasons in Detroit. In his 13 seasons with the Red Wings, he played 846 games, scored 162 goals, tallied 310 assists and clocked 253 penalty minutes.

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In the middle of the 1959-60 season, Kelly was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he would spend the remainder of his playing career.

Meanwhile, in his eight seasons with the Leafs, Kelly appeared in 470 games, scored 119 goals, piled on 232 assists and registered 74 penalty minutes. At the conclusion of the 1966-67 season and at 39 years old, Kelly decided to call it a career.

In his lustrous playing career, which spanned 20 years, he accumulated numerous awards and accomplishments. Kelly was a 12 time NHL All-Star, eight-time Stanley Cup Champion (won four with Toronto and four with Detroit), four-time Lady Byng winner, a Norris Trophy winner, and a Hockey Hall of Famer (inducted in 1969).

After his playing days were over in the NHL, Kelly took up coaching. Red coached 10 seasons (two seasons with the Kings, four with the Penguins and four with the Maple Leafs) in the NHL accumulating a total of 742 games coached, won 278 games, lost 330 games and tied 134 games. Following the 1976-77 season, Kelly officially stepped away from the NHL.

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The Red Wings pregame number retirement ceremony for Kelly was very well done and long overdue. Kelly was surrounded by family, friends, management and players of past and present. Red Kelly and his number four will forever be raised high and proud in Little Caesars Arena.

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