Calgary Kids - Benett Kelly

Benett Kelly has lived and breathed hockey for as long as he can remember.

Having a father, Steve Kelly, with over 16 seasons of pro hockey experience and a Stanley Cup ring to his name, Kelly quickly fell in love with the game and followed in his dad’s footsteps playing for the same organization that he called home during his junior days.

“From the moment I got drafted to Prince Albert to signing the contract, it was just pure excitement,” he said.  “My grandparents are out there and his old billets from when he played, who are basically family to us as well. It's pretty cool to be able to go to a spot that he is known for and hopefully that people start to begin knowing me through myself.”

“Him playing in the NHL was a huge influence on me. He's been one of my biggest supporters, he's always there to lift me up. He's there to give me advice and I think one thing that's I've taken from him is maintaining your body and your mind. With the long season, summer training and going into the draft process, you need to have an open mind and just know that if things maybe don't work out the way you like, then you use that as motivation.”

Originally born in Texas, Kelly and his family moved to the Bearspaw area where he played his minor hockey years in Cochrane which paved the way to spending his U-15 and U-18 days with the Airdrie Extreme and Calgary Royals, respectively.

From there, he achieved his childhood goal.

Kelly comfortably made the jump to a talented Raiders roster as a rookie this past season, becoming a key mainstay on the blueline en-route to the Raiders making it to the WHL Final against Everett.

Despite falling just short of winning the league title, there’s a lot of buzz for Kelly and his teammates moving forward.

“It was a really strong year for our team,” he said. “I feel like we turned some heads a little bit, having a lot of having a lot of new guys come in and a lot of young guys. It was hard to lose like that in the finals, obviously, but you can't keep your head down for too long. It's always going to be in the back of your mind, but just kind of taking that feeling from that loss and bring it into next year to push our group even further.

“(Looking ahead) I feel like I could play a little bit nastier, have that side of my game where people don't want to come down my side and they know that in the defensive zone they're going to have a challenge with me.”

Ranked No. 107 by NHL Central Scouting on its final list of North American skaters, Kelly now eagerly awaits for the draft to see what’s to come in hopes of further following in his dad’s footsteps.

“It's pretty cool to be recognized, it's just a dream come true having the chance to be able to get drafted,” he said.  From being a young kid all the way to where I am now, it's still my biggest dream (to play in the NHL), but it's just cool to be recognized. I know that this is just the beginning and there's a whole lot more work that has to go into to be able to play in that league.”