It may have taken a while, but Red Kelly's No.4 Demarcus Christmas Jerseys is finally hanging in the rafters in Detroit.
Friday night,theRed Wings honored the 91-year-old Hall of Famer and eight-time Stanley Cup champion by retiring his jersey.
Red Kelly's #4 goes up to the rafters.
NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs)Kelly wore the spoked wheel for 12 1/2 years, netting 472 points in846 games as a defenseman for the franchise. He won the Norris Trophy as Mark Gilbert Jerseys the NHL's top D-manfollowing the 1953-54 season.
"Seventy-one years ago I joined the Detroit Red Wings out of juniorand they gave me No. 20 as a number," ."I came back the second year andthey changed my number to4 from 20 and I complained. I said, 'I liked my 20, why are you changing it?' They said, 'One number is lighter to carry than two.'So I thank them,appreciatefor the great years we had in Detroit."
Acantankerous relationship with then-GM Jack Adams B.J. Finney Jerseys ended with Kellybeing traded to Toronto during the 1959-60 season. He shifted to center with Maple Leafs and went on to win four of his eight Stanley Cups with that franchise.
Kelly was also awarded the Lady Jack Ham Jerseys Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play four times, three with Detroit. Kelly jokingly told the crowd that the jersey retirement "wouldn't have happened in the old days under the Adams regime."
Red Kelly played for two Original Six franchises, Terrell Edmunds Jerseys but hes only one of eight to be honored in the rafters by the .
NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL)Named one of the NHL's 100 greatest players in historyin 2017, Kellyjoins Detroit teammates Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel, Terry Sawchukand Alex Delvecchio in having his number raised to the rafters by the Original Six club.
"We are honoring a legend, a hero," Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman noted during the ceremony.
Kelly's number is also retired by Toronto, which was the visiting team Friday night. Kelly isone of nine players in NHL history to have their jersey retired by more than one John Leglue Jerseys team.
