Kelly Fairchild
Born (1973-04-09) April 9, 1973
Hibbing, Minnesota, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 197 lb (89 kg; 14 st 1 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Toronto Maple Leafs
Dallas Stars
Colorado Avalanche
Eisbären Berlin
Vienna Capitals
Nippon Paper Cranes
National team  United States
NHL Draft 152nd overall, 1991
Los Angeles Kings
Playing career 1994–2009

Kelly G. Fairchild (born April 9, 1973) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche between 1996 and 2002. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1994 to 2009, was spent in various minor leagues, as well as time in Europe and Asia.

Playing career

Fairchild was selected in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings in the 7th round, 152nd overall. He attended Grand Rapids High School and was a standout play-maker before committing to a collegiate career with the University of Wisconsin in 1991. In 1993–94, his junior year with the Badgers, Kelly led the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in scoring with 64 points and was named to the WCHA's First All-Star Team and finished as a runner up in the Hobey Baker Award.[1]

Prior to his first professional season, Fairchild was traded by the Kings, along with Dixon Ward, Guy Leveque and Shayne Toporowski, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Eric Lacroix, Chris Snell and fourth round pick (Eric Belanger) on October 3, 1994.[2] After two seasons with the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, St. John's he made his NHL debut appearing in a single game and recording an assist in the 1995–96 season. Over the next couple of seasons, Kelly played in 22 further games with the Maple Leafs, but ultimately assigned to minor league affiliates.

On July 2, 1998, Fairchild signed a two-year contract with the Dallas Stars. Despite contributing largely to the offense of the Michigan K-Wings, he was only able to make a lone Star appearance in 1998–99. Looked upon as an established minor-league veteran, Fairchild was then signed by the Colorado Avalanche in 2000. Fairchild was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for the most part of two seasons but played in 10 Avalanche games and scoring his first 2, and only, goals in the 2001–02 season.

After totaling just 34 NHL games, Kelly left North America when he signed with Eisbären Berlin of the German DEL in 2002. After a prolific first season in the DEL with Berlin, Fairchild was unexpectedly chosen to the United States team to participate in the 2003 World Championships in Finland. As an understrength team, Fairchild scored in the upset loss to Denmark.[3] Fairchild finished with 5 goals in 6 games as Team USA finished a disappointing 13th out of 16 teams.[4] Fairchild was then a part of two championships with Berlin in 2005 and 2006 before leaving in 2007 to join the Vienna Capitals in the Austrian Hockey League.

In his last season of professional hockey, Fairchild won the Asia League Ice Hockey Championship with the Nippon Paper Cranes in 2009.[5]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1988–89 Hibbing/Chisholm High School HS-MN 22981724 —————
1989–90 Grand Rapids High School HS-MN 2812172973 —————
1990–91 Grand Rapids High School HS-MN 2828457325 —————
1991–92 University of Wisconsin WCHA 4111102145 —————
1992–93 University of Wisconsin WCHA 4225295454 —————
1993–94 University of Wisconsin WCHA 4220446481 —————
1994–95 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 5327235051 40224
1995–96 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 7829497885 20114
1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 10112 —————
1996–97 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 299223136 —————
1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 220222 —————
1996–97 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 25961520 9651116
1997–98 Orlando Solar Bears IHL 2226820 —————
1997–98 Milwaukee Admirals IHL 4020244432 105274
1997–98 St. John's Maple Leafs AHL 1752724 —————
1998–99 Dallas Stars NHL 10000 —————
1998–99 Michigan K-Wings IHL 7417335088 522416
1999–00 Michigan K-Wings IHL 7821416289 —————
2000–01 Hershey Bears AHL 7023406368 12291110
2001–02 Hershey Bears AHL 6322254792 82136
2001–02 Colorado Avalanche NHL 102022 —————
2002–03 Eisbären Berlin DEL 5120325274 933620
2003–04 Eisbären Berlin DEL 4220234386 1167136
2004–05 Eisbären Berlin DEL 4317163354 71564
2005–06 Eisbären Berlin DEL 3315173222 1135812
2006–07 Eisbären Berlin DEL 4713152860 30006
2007–08 Vienna Capitals EBEL 447293658 713412
2008–09 Nippon Paper Cranes AL 209142352 —————
AHL totals 310112164276356 264131724
NHL totals 342356 —————

International

Year Team Event GPGAPtsPIM
2003 United States WC 65052
Senior totals 65052

Awards and honors

Award Year
All-WCHA First Team 1993–94

References

  1. ↑ "New Faces - Kelly Fairchild". baseportal.com. 2001-06-15. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  2. ↑ "Kelly Fairchild". legendsofhockey. 2009-03-20. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  3. ↑ "Americans thwarted by Denmark/ U.S. suffers huge upset at world". The Gazette (Colorado Springs). 2003-04-27. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  4. ↑ "Flashing back to the 2003 USA Hockey World Championships". Peter Ferraro. 2010-05-02. Archived from the original on 2010-05-05. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  5. ↑ Bill Meltzer (2009-10-29). "To the East of the World- Asia Pro League". prohockeyresume. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
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