Kelly Hrudey

Kelly Hrudey
Hrudey in 2006
Born	(1961-01-13) January 13, 1961 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	New York Islanders Los Angeles Kings San Jose Sharks
National team	Canada
NHL draft	38th overall, 1980 New York Islanders
Playing career	1981–1998

Kelly Hrudey (/ˈruːdi/; born January 13, 1961) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He is a current hockey broadcaster with Sportsnet as a studio analyst for Hockey Night in Canada and colour commentator for Calgary Flames regional broadcasts. During his playing career, Hrudey played in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks from 1983 to 1998.

Playing career

Hrudey played junior hockey for three years with the Western Hockey League Medicine Hat Tigers. He was drafted in the second round (38th overall) of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. Hrudey first played for the Indianapolis Checkers, New York's minor league affiliate, and moved to the main club in the 1984–85 season.

New York Islanders

With Hall of Famer Billy Smith entrenched in the Islanders net, Hrudey managed to begin splitting the goaltending duties starting in 1984-85, his first full season with the club. Hrudey's arrival allowed the Islanders to trade goaltender Rollie Melanson to the Minnesota North Stars for a first round pick. Each season Hrudey's games played slowly crept up but he didn't fully eclipse the veteran Smith until the 1987 playoffs when he truly made a name for himself.

He was the Islanders' goaltender on April 18th, 1987, in Game 7 of the Islanders first round playoff series when they defeated the Washington Capitals in the longest game in club history, a four-overtime Game 7 thriller known as the "Easter Epic", which was won on a goal by Pat LaFontaine after 68:47 of overtime. Hrudey made 73 saves in a 3–2 Islander victory that ended just before 2am on Easter morning. Hrudey’s 73 saves in a single game stood as a modern NHL record until Joonas Korpisalo’s 85-save performance for the Columbus Blue Jackets against the Tampa Bay Lightning 33 years later.

Later in 1987, he was the third string goaltender on Team Canada during the 1987 Canada Cup, but did not appear in a game.

Despite finishing in the top five in Vezina Trophy voting as the leagues top goaltender in two of his final three seasons in New York, Hrudey was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1989.

Los Angeles Kings

Hrudey was initially angry about the deal, because he had always dreamt of playing his career with one club, but he quickly adjusted and became an important part of the Gretzky-era Los Angeles Kings. Since his number #30 was retired by the Kings in honor of Rogie Vachon, Hrudey would switch to number #32 which he would wear for the rest of his career. His most notable achievement was playing in the 1993 Stanley Cup finals, but the team lost to Patrick Roy's Montreal Canadiens. The Kings used a first round draft pick in 1994 to select goalie Jamie Storr and with him projected as the Kings goaltender of the future, they let Hrudey test free agency when his contract ended. While it was time for him to move on, Hrudey really appreciated his time with the Kings. "It was maybe the best eight years of my life playing hockey. I loved the management and the ownership. Just a wonderful place to spend eight seasons."

San Jose Sharks

In 1996, in what Hrudey called "a pretty easy decision," he signed a two-year deal with the San Jose Sharks. Hrudey served as the Sharks' starting goaltender for the 1996–97 season until late January, when the club traded for All-Star Ed Belfour. With Belfour on the roster, Hrudey was pushed into the backup role. Belfour left as a free agent at the end of the season, but the Sharks acquired another veteran in Mike Vernon and once again Hrudey played a support role, making 28 appearances but managing just four wins. Hrudey retired at seasons end and announced he would be moving into a new career as a broadcaster joining CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

Broadcasting career

During the latter years of his playing career, he often joined Hockey Night in Canada as a studio analyst to supplement their playoff coverage if his team missed or was eliminated from Stanley Cup contention. After retiring, he joined the show full-time as a studio analyst. He was featured in the "Behind the Mask" segment with hosts Scott Russell and later Scott Oake during the first intermission of the second game of Saturday night doubleheaders. In 2007, Hrudey helped debut Hockey Night in Canada Radio. The show originating from Toronto with host Jeff Marek is a three-hour program dedicated to hockey. The show is broadcast on Sirius XM Channel 122 and 97. Hrudey co-hosts Monday and Wednesday from his home studio in Calgary. For the 2008–09 season, he began working alongside host Ron MacLean and Elliotte Friedman on HNIC's lead studio team.

Hrudey also made a weekly appearance on the TSN 1040 in Vancouver with Rick Ball.

With Rogers Media, the parent company of Sportsnet, gaining the sole national rights to the NHL beginning in the 2014-15 season, in August 2014, Hrudey joined Sportsnet full time to participate in their hockey coverage. In addition to his HNIC role (which remains on CBC as part of a four year sub-licensing deal), he along with Ball became the new announcers for the Calgary Flames regional broadcasts.

Personal life

Hrudey lives with his wife Donna and their three daughters in Alberta. Hrudey does advocacy work in the field of mental health, inspired in part by his daughter's struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He received an honorary degree from Mount Royal University on November 3, 2017 for his mental health advocacy efforts. He is of Ukrainian origin. He has a dog named Kingston.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season										Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1978–79	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		57	12	34	7	3093	318	0	6.17	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		57	25	23	4	3049	212	1	4.17	.899		13	6	6	638	48	0	4.51	—
1980–81	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL		55	32	19	1	3023	200	4	3.97	.895		4	1	3	244	17	0	4.18	—
1980–81	Indianapolis Checkers	CHL		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		2	—	—	135	8	0	3.56	—
1981–82	Indianapolis Checkers	CHL		51	27	19	4	3033	149	1	2.95	.900		13	11	2	842	34	1	2.42	—
1982–83	Indianapolis Checkers	CHL		47	26	17	1	2744	139	2	3.04	.894		10	7	3	637	28	0	2.64	—
1983–84	New York Islanders	NHL		12	7	2	0	535	28	0	3.14	.903		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Indianapolis Checkers	CHL		6	3	2	1	370	21	0	3.40	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	New York Islanders	NHL		41	19	17	3	2335	141	2	3.62	.886		5	1	3	281	8	0	1.71	.946
1985–86	New York Islanders	NHL		45	19	15	8	2563	137	1	3.21	.906		2	0	2	120	6	0	3.00	.898
1986–87	New York Islanders	NHL		46	21	15	7	2634	145	0	3.30	.881		14	7	7	842	38	0	2.71	.918
1987–88	New York Islanders	NHL		47	22	17	5	2751	153	3	3.34	.896		6	2	4	380	23	0	3.62	.851
1988–89	New York Islanders	NHL		50	18	24	3	2800	183	0	3.92	.874		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		16	10	4	2	974	47	1	2.90	.904		10	4	6	566	35	0	3.71	.881
1989–90	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		52	22	21	6	2860	194	2	4.07	.873		9	4	4	539	39	0	3.62	.853
1990–91	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		47	26	13	6	2730	132	3	2.90	.900		12	6	6	798	37	0	2.78	.903
1991–92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		60	27	17	13	3509	197	1	3.37	.897		6	2	4	355	22	0	3.72	.877
1992–93	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		50	18	21	6	2718	175	2	3.86	.897		20	10	10	1261	74	0	3.52	.887
1993–94	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		64	22	31	7	3713	228	1	3.68	.897		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		25	14	13	5	1894	99	0	3.14	.910		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Phoenix Roadrunners	IHL		1	0	1	0	50	5	0	5.95	.828		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		36	7	15	10	2077	113	0	3.26	.907		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	San Jose Sharks	NHL		48	16	24	5	2631	140	0	3.19	.889		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	San Jose Sharks	NHL		28	4	16	2	1360	62	1	2.74	.897		1	0	0	20	1	0	3.00	.833
NHL totals				677	271	265	88	38,081	2174	17	3.43	.893		85	36	46	5161	283	0	3.29	.891

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1986	Canada	WC		5	—	—	—	299	22	—	4.41	—
Senior totals				5	—	—	—	299	22	—	4.41	—

Awards

• WHL Second All-Star Team – 1981

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database