Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly is the Executive Director of College Hockey, Inc., a newly formed entity with the mission of raising the profile of U.S. college hockey and providing information to prospective student athletes and their families about the many benefits of playing college hockey.  

He is a graduate of Boston College, and obtained his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law.  Prior to taking on this new role, Paul served for two years as the Executive Director of the NHL Players’ Association, representing the 740 players of the NHL.  An attorney by training, Paul was also the prosecutor from the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for bringing Alan Eagleson to justice for committing fraud and embezzlement against the membership of the NHLPA.  Paul has also represented past and present NHL players as a trial lawyer, including Bobby Orr, and also Marty McSorley when he was accused of criminal assault for striking Donald Brashear with his stick.  Paul was also involved in the litigation that resulted from the terrorist acts on 9/11, representing the security screening company for American Airlines for over five years.

Paul resides in Needham, Massachusetts with his wife Lee.  He has four children, who have attended Middlebury, Dartmouth, Providence and Boston College.  He is an avid amateur hockey player, and still plays in a weekly men’s league.   He has also coached hockey at various age levels since the early 1980s, including seven years as the head hockey coach at Needham High School.

Margot Page

In her first season as the head coach of the girls hockey program at Appleby College in Oakville, Ont., Margot led Appleby to the championship game of the North American Prep Hockey Association playoff tournament. She was the head coach of the women’s hockey team at Niagara University for 12 seasons (1997-2009), leading the team to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2002. Margot led Niagara to the CHA championship game on four occasions (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009). She was named CHA coach of the year in 2007, was a member of Canada’s National Women’s Team at three IIHF World Women’s Championships (1990, 1992, 1994), winning three gold medals, and she was the first former National Women’s Team player to be a part of the team’s coaching staff.

Internationally, Margot:

• Won a gold medal as head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team at the 2010 MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany
• Was head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team for a three-game series vs. Canada’s National Women’s Team in Calgary, Alta. in August 2009
• Was a coach at the National Women’s Under-18 Team selection camp in July 2008 in Calgary, Alta.
• Was a coach at the National Women’s Program under-19 evaluation camp in July 2007 in Calgary, Alta.
• Won an Olympic gold medal as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy
• Was an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2005 Torino Ice Tournament in Torino, Italy and the 2005 4 Nations Cup in Hämeenlinna, Finland, winning a gold medal at each event
• Was an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2005 IIHF World Women’s Championship in Linkoping, Sweden, winning a silver medal
• Was an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2004 4 Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., winning a gold medal
• Was the head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team for two Air Canada Cups (2003 and 2004), winning a gold medal at each event
• Was the head coach of Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team for a three game series vs. the United States in Pierrefonds, Que. in August 2003

Larry Playfair

Larry Playfair played his junior hockey for the Portland Winter Hawks of the WCJHL from 1976 to 1978, when established himself as a gritty, stay-at-home defender. In the 1978 Amateur Draft, the Buffalo Sabres had Playfair at the top of their list, selecting him 13th overall. After a stint with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, he settled into a role as the Sabres' enforcer. Playfair was a hard-working consistent player who scored occasionally but play a defensively sound game. He remained at the centre of the Sabres' defense until midway through the 1985-86 season when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Playfair put in parts of three seasons on the west coast before returning to Buffalo where, because of a ruptured disk in his back, he was forced to retire in 1989. Since leaving the ice, Playfair has worked as a colour analyst for Sabres broadcasts and he is currently the President of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association, an organization that gives back to the community that supported Sabres players so well during their playing days. The Alumni Association sponsors a scholarship program for worthy students in the Niagara region and a wide variety of charitable causes. In addition to this work, Playfair has been active as a youth hockey coach and promoter of the game, on both sides of the Canadian-American border.