Fairchild was selected in the
1991 NHL entry draft by the
Los Angeles Kings in the 7th round, 152nd overall. He attended
Grand Rapids High School and was a standout play-maker before committing to a collegiate career with the
University of Wisconsin in 1991. In 1993–94, his junior year with the Badgers, Kelly led the
Western Collegiate Hockey Association in scoring with 64 points and was named to the WCHA's First All-Star Team and finished as a runner up in the
Hobey Baker Award. Prior to his first professional season, Fairchild was traded by the Kings, along with
Dixon Ward,
Guy Leveque and
Shayne Toporowski, to the
Toronto Maple Leafs for
Eric Lacroix,
Chris Snell and fourth round pick (
Eric Belanger) on October 3, 1994. After two seasons with the Maple Leafs
AHL affiliate,
St. John's he made his NHL debut appearing in a single game and recording an assist in the
1995–96 season. Over the next couple of seasons, Kelly played in 22 further games with the Maple Leafs, but ultimately assigned to minor league affiliates. On July 2, 1998, Fairchild signed a two-year contract with the
Dallas Stars. Despite contributing largely to the offense of the
Michigan K-Wings, he was only able to make a lone Star appearance in
1998–99. Looked upon as an established minor-league veteran, Fairchild was then signed by the
Colorado Avalanche in 2000. Fairchild was assigned to AHL affiliate, the
Hershey Bears, for the most part of two seasons but played in 10 Avalanche games and scoring his first 2, and only, goals in the
2001–02 season. After totaling just 34 NHL games, Kelly left North America when he signed with
Eisbären Berlin of the
German DEL in 2002. After a prolific first season in the DEL with Berlin, Fairchild was unexpectedly chosen to the
United States team to participate in the
2003 World Championships in Finland. As an understrength team, Fairchild scored in the upset loss to
Denmark. Fairchild finished with 5 goals in 6 games as Team USA finished a disappointing 13th out of 16 teams. Fairchild was then a part of two championships with Berlin in 2005 and 2006 before leaving in 2007 to join the
Vienna Capitals in the
Austrian Hockey League. In his last season of professional hockey, Fairchild won the
Asia League Ice Hockey Championship with the
Nippon Paper Cranes in 2009. ==Career statistics==