Jim Kelley has covered hockey for the Buffalo News since 1981. He has been president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association for the past six seasons and was vice president for six years prior to that.
A veteran of the NHL scene, Kelley won the New York State Publisher's Association award for best sports commentary for, surprisingly enough, a hockey column.
A lifelong resident of the Buffalo-WNY area, Kelley, his wife and two daughters live alongside a lake that is frozen for a good part of the season.
"You get an appreciation for the sport when you spend half your life around ice," Kelley says.
June 1999