Jody Shelley

Jody Shelley (born February 7, 1976) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is known as an enforcer and has the most major penalties for fighting since he joined the league; as of October 31, 2010, he had 156.

Early life
Shelley grew up in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, his father being a miner and constantly travelling. He attended Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School, graduating in 1994. He was involved in a number of competitive sports in his high school years, including hockey, swimming, and soccer, as well as a brief stint on the high school volleyball team.

Playing career
Shelley began playing hockey when he was young in the Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association until his midget year. He moved away from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia when he was 18 to play for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Shelley then played 19 games for Dalhousie University before being signed by the Saint John Flames in the AHL to make his pro debut. Jody Shelley was signed as a free agent by the Calgary Flames on September 1, 1998, but never played for them. He played until 2000 with Saint John.

Almost 2 years later, on August 17, 2000, he was signed as a free agent by the Columbus Blue Jackets and played one game for them in the 2000–01 season. During that one game, he had ten minutes in penalties. After that, he played fairly regularly as the Blue Jackets' enforcer averaging over 200 minutes in penalties a season. During the 2003–04 NHL season, he got into a career high 30 fights. He played five and a half seasons for the Blue Jackets.

On January 29, 2008, he was traded to the San Jose Sharks for a sixth-round draft pick in 2009 and he re-signed with the Sharks in the off-season. In a 2008 regular season match against the Dallas Stars, Sean Avery hit Brad Lukowich and after the incident, Shelley and Avery began to throw water and gatorade at each other while jawing at each other.

Two years after joining San Jose, on February 12, 2010, Shelley was traded by the Sharks to the Rangers for a conditional sixth-round draft pick.

On July 1, 2010, Shelley signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

On September 20, 2011, Shelley was suspended for the remainder of the preseason and 5 regular season games for boarding Darryl Boyce.

International play
During the 2004–2005 NHL Lockout, Shelley played for the JYP in the Finnish SM-Liiga. He played 11 games in the regular season with no goals, one assist and 20 penalty minutes. During the playoffs he played 3 games with no points and 25 penalty minutes.

Personal life
On July 11, 2004, Jody married fiancée, Mandy Shelley (née Thompson) of Laurelville, Ohio. They met in a Columbus, Ohio bar while he was playing for the Blue Jackets. In November 2008, they had their first son named Owen William Shelley weighing 6 lb, 12oz.

Shelley hosts the Jody Shelley Golf Fore Health in his hometown of Yarmouth every summer which raises money for hospital equipment.

Records

 * Currently holds the all time record in penalty minutes (420) for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.
 * Also holds the single season record for penalty minutes (357) for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL
 * Holds single-game penalty minutes record for the San Jose Sharks. (41)
 * His number (25) was retired from the Halifax Mooseheads.
 * He was named number one Mooseheads player of all time.