Armitage, Kelly

BORN FEBRUARY 1ST 1952 in Canada, he developed hockey there and attended the Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, before moving to Australia. Throughout the early-80s, he played with the Gold Coast Vikings coached by Bruce Rolin on a roster with players such as Kevin Sands, Peter Nixon, Ray Hess, and Dave Emblem. In 1983, he was captain of the Vikings when they won the Hanimex Cup at the Narrabeen Ice Skating Centre in Sydney.

In 1984, he joined the rival Brisbane Boomerangs as captain among such players as Russ Trudeau, Richard Orme, John Fenton and Chris Smiley. That same year, he scored the opening goal for Bruce Rolin's Queensland All-Stars against the touring Vancouver Flames. The Flames were a team of top university players and ex-professionals, who defeated the locals 4-3 in a physical game that left Viking front man, Dave Emblem, with a broken wrist.

He represented his state in the Slapshot 84 series in Sydney that July, with the best fifteen players from the Gold Coast-Brisbane league who competed under the banner of the Gold Coast Vikings. It was the second edition of the televised event in which Queensland competed for the first time.

Although he never won a Goodall Cup, he was a regular forward on the state Goodall Cup team during the early-1980s, and by 1984 he was also the team's Sports Medico. A president of the state association in the early 1980s, he is remembered for his well-constructed meetings.

In 1986, he was among the first Queensland league players to represent Australia at the IIHF Worlds, with Peter Nixon, Ron Shupka and Fred Christen, after Wayne Raison blazed the way in 1974 and David Lindsay in 1979. He was a defenseman at the 1986 C-Pool Worlds in Spain coached by Chuck Naish, returning in 1987 for the inaugural D-Pool in Perth coached by Dan Reynolds, where Australia won gold, setting a record score against NZ, 58-0. He was 36 years-old and scored 3 goals, 7 assists for Australia. He was also Team Doctor for Australian national teams.

In 1985, he married Angela Julian and began a family. He operated a medical practice for over 30 years in Brisbane's south-west suburb of Inala, and later at nearby Forest Lake. His other passions are mountain climbing and rowing.