from Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com,

It was last June, at an event to celebrate the Hockey Hall of Fame's 75th anniversary and the 25 years at its current Toronto location, that the full impact of Red Kelly's career and life was on display.

Kelly, along with fellow Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay, each sat at a table with admirers lined up to greet them.

"It was amazing," Hall of Fame chairman Lanny McDonald said in a phone interview Thursday. "Red and Ted were at two tables next to each other at dinner and there were lineups of guys wanting to talk to them. They were like rock stars."

Those waiting to meet and greet Kelly and Lindsay weren't fans or groupies. They were fellow Hall of Famers like Bobby Clarke and Serge Savard. And they all were in awe of the two men sitting in front of them.

"It was an incredible scene," McDonald said. "I mean, what better endorsement can you have? All the men in that room were some of the best that had ever played the game. And they acted like kids getting to meet their hockey heroes for the first time.

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