On March 29, when the Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres, Bob "the Hound" Kelly will be honored for his half-century of contributions to the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Kelly, 74, is retiring at the end of this season.
Hound is one-of-a-kind. When contemplating the best way to encapsulate Hound's impact as a hockey player, community ambassador, longtime board member of the Flyers Alumni Association and as a human being, two words came to mind: team player.
Kelly has always been known for his stories, boisterous sense of humor and deep appreciation for the fans. Those are very much part of who he is as a person. But so are genuine modesty, salt-of-the-earth character, and tireless work ethic. He deflects praise with self-deprecating humor and then instinctively mentions the contributions of other people.
Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman Joe Watson, who is cut from the same cloth as Kelly and has been a close friend of Hound for 50-plus years, summed it up best.
"Every player should have teammates like him and every person should have a friend like him," Watson said.
"We tease each other all the time. Always have, always will. But there's never been a doubt that Kelly will be the first one there when you need him. No questions asked."
As a hockey player, Kelly never played a single game of minor league hockey. He jumped to the NHL directly from junior hockey. He wasn't a prodigy. Rather, Kelly did so because of his tireless energy and work ethic.
Kelly played up and down the Flyers' lineup during his decade with the team. Few realize that, as a rookie, he frequently played on Bobby Clarke's line because the still-young expansion team was trying to forge an identity as a tough and hard-working club. He also had 14 goals and 32 points in his first season: not bad for a 20-year-old NHLer who has always described himself as a "plumber" on the ice.
The legendary Fred Shero once famously said of Kelly, "If Bob Kelly scores 20 goals, it means I'm not using him right." In other words, it would take Kelly comparable ice time and situational usage to a player like Hall of Fame left winger Bill Barber to scratch out half of the output.
Kelly was most effective as a forechecking role player, bounding around the ice and dishing out hits with abandon. He was also never shy about dropping the gloves. "Hound" cared nothing about personal stats and never complained about his ice time.
As a member of the Atlanta/Calgary Brad Marsh played against Kelly. He recalls the experience with a bemused grin.
"The thing about Kelly was that you knew what was coming. He'd dump the puck into your corner. You'd go to retrieve it and he'd barrel into you. That's not unusual, right? But he'd do it again and again and again. He wore you down hitting you every time he was on the ice, and just wanted to knock you off the puck," Marsh recalled.
"That's the only way Hound knew how to play: all out. He did it in the NHL. Hell, he did it in Alumni games. And he did it working for the team in the community. Day after day, year after year. Get to where you need to get, and do your thing. to be part of something important to you."
It wasn't that Kelly lacked ability. He scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in Game 6 of the 1975 Final against the Buffalo Sabres (which adds golden anniversary symbolism to why a game against the Sabres was chosen for his tribute night).
The Flyers reached the Cup Final four times in Kelly's career, winning twice. To this day, playing a role on a winning team meant far more to him than any personal accomplishments. Nevertheless, in a bottom-six role as the left wing on Mel Bridgman's line, Kelly had a 22-goal season. When Tom Gorence joined the club as a 21-year-old rookie, the trio of Bridgman, Kelly and Gorence (the KGB) line frequently provided a spark to the club.
After his Flyers tenure finally ended, Kelly went to the Washington Capitals. There, on a talent-starved club, Kelly played a more offensive-oriented role (career-high 26 goals, 62 points) in addition to much-need grit and physicality (157 penalty minutes, his most since 1972-73).
Kelly, however, did not enjoy his time with the Capitals. Once again, the personal stats meant nothing to him. Washington in that era was a perennial losing team that lacked the sort of unity and identity he'd come to know well during the Broad Street Bullies era with the Flyers.
If Kelly had wanted to, he could have bounced around the ever-expanding NHL for a few years in his 30s in order to get to play in 1,000 regular season games (he got to 837). But he never just wanted to hang on for personal benefit. Kelly craved being a member of a winning team. He dressed in 101 career playoff games: an enviable number.
In terms of Kelly's decades in the Flyers community department and as a quiet part of the Flyers Alumni leadership group, the Hound loved his work: no school visit, no "Every Child Deserves a Bike" presentation was ever too long of a commute for Hound to come. His daily schedule was never too packed to be sure to be at Wells Fargo Center for a "Hometown Hero" presentation or a private visit with a returning veteran and his or her family.
Was there a hockey clinic with youth players or youngsters from military families? The Hound would be there if at all possible. He also provided assistant coaching service to Marsh and Rob Baer with the Flyers Warriors.
In 2014, Kelly was a driving force in organizing and managing the Flyers Alumni Fantasy Camp. The camp celebrated its 10th annual edition in 2024, and became a source of pride to Kelly as it grew into a signature event that sells out all registrations slots every year.
During the Alumni's yearly 12 Days of Christmas giving program, Kelly is often on hand to volunteer time or assist with the presentation. One annual donation is especially meaningful to Bob and wife Stacey.
Each year since the creation of the 12 Days of Christmas giving program, the Flyers Alumni have made a holiday season donation to the Samuel Busansky Upper Elementary School (Pemberton, NJ) toward the school’s annual holiday toy drive for families in need. The school and its toy drive have special meaning to the Kellys, because Stacey was a longtime teacher at Busansky.
Along with our annual St. Frances Inn holiday food donation and the Alumni's own Every Child Deserves a Bike program, the Busansky school presentation is one of three annual 12 Days staples. The others change from year to year.
