Music: {allcanada} HALL OF FAME HOCKEY WRITER JIM KELLEY PASSES AWAY

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

{allcanada} HALL OF FAME HOCKEY WRITER JIM KELLEY PASSES AWAY

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jim Kelley, a longtime sports writer and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, has died after a long battle with cancer. He was 61.

Kelley was a broadcaster on all-sports radio station The Fan 590, and a hockey columnist on Rogers Sportsnet's website. He posted his final column on Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday -- a retrospective on Brian Burke's career with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Buffalo News sports editor Steve Jones confirmed that Kelley died Tuesday at Buffalo General Hospital.

Kelley spent much of his 30-year career covering the NHL for the newspaper before taking jobs with FoxSports.com, ESPN.com and working as a broadcaster in Toronto. Most recently, he was writing columns for Sports Illustrated.

Kelley was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 upon receiving the Elmer Ferguson Award for hockey writers. He was scheduled to be inducted into the Buffalo Sabres' Hall of Fame on Jan. 1.

Kelley is survived by his wife Susan, daughters Erin and Megan, and three grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending.