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 an analyst for Hockey Night in Canada and the Calgary Flames as a commentator. 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.[1] 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.[2] 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[3] 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[4] as the leagues top goaltender in two of his final three seasons in New York, Hrudey was traded to the Los Angeles Kings[5] in 1989.

Los Angeles Kings

Hrudey was initially angry about the deal, because he had always dreamt of playing his career with one club,[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]"

San Jose Sharks

In 1996, in what Hrudey called "a pretty easy decision,"[9] 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 when not washing cars and flipping burgers. 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.[10]

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.[11] He received an honorary degree from Mount Royal University on November 3, 2017 for his mental health advocacy efforts.[12] He is of Ukrainian origin.[13] He has a dog named Kingston.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPWLTMINGASOGAASV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1978–79 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 5712347309331806.17— ————————
1979–80 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 5725234304921214.17.899 13666384804.51—
1980–81 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 5532191302320043.97.895 4132441704.18—
1980–81 Indianapolis Checkers CHL ————————— 2——135803.56—
1981–82 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 5127194303314912.95.900 131128423412.42—
1982–83 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 4726171274413923.04.894 10736372802.64—
1983–84 New York Islanders NHL 127205352803.14.903 ————————
1983–84 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 63213702103.40— ————————
1984–85 New York Islanders NHL 4119173233514123.62.886 513281801.71.946
1985–86 New York Islanders NHL 4519158256313713.21.906 202120603.00.898
1986–87 New York Islanders NHL 4621157263414503.30.881 14778423802.71.918
1987–88 New York Islanders NHL 4722175275115333.34.896 6243802303.62.851
1988–89 New York Islanders NHL 5018243280018303.92.874 ————————
1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 1610429744712.90.904 10465663503.71.881
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 5222216286019424.07.873 9445393903.62.853
1990–91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 4726136273013232.90.900 12667983702.78.903
1991–92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 60271713350919713.37.897 6243552203.72.877
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 5018216271817523.86.897 20101012617403.52.887
1993–94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 6422317371322813.68.897 ————————
1994–95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 251413518949903.14.910 ————————
1995–96 Phoenix Roadrunners IHL 101050505.95.828 ————————
1995–96 Los Angeles Kings NHL 3671510207711303.26.907 ————————
1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 4816245263114003.19.889 ————————
1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 28416213606212.74.897 10020103.00.833
NHL totals 6772712658838,0812174173.43.893 853646516128303.29.891

International

Year Team Event GPWLTMINGASOGAASV%
1986 Canada WC 5———29922—4.41—
Senior totals 5———29922—4.41—

Awards

  • WHL Second All-Star Team – 1981

References

  1. ↑ "Melanson Traded to the North Stars". NYTimes.com.
  2. ↑ Beneteau, Josh (April 18, 2020). "Remember When? Kelly Hrudey makes 73 saves in Easter Epic". Sportsnet.ca.
  3. ↑ Cowley, Ryan (August 14, 2020). "Hrudey on Korpisalo's 85-Save Record: 'I was cheering for him to break the 100-save mark'". calisportsnews.com.
  4. ↑ "Top 100 Goalies: No. 68 Kelly Hrudey". The Hockey News.
  5. ↑ Finn, Robin (February 23, 1989). "Hrudey Is Traded by Islanders In an Effort to Bolster Future". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ "Kelly Hrudey Recalls Being Traded to the LA Kings". NHL.com.
  7. ↑ Matsuda, Gann (March 9, 2013). "Kelly Hrudey Says Time With Los Angeles Kings Was His "Best Eight Years of Hockey"". Frozen Royalty.
  8. ↑ "Kelly Hrudey Recalls Being Traded to the Los Angeles Kings". NHL.com.
  9. ↑ "Hrudey Joins Sharks in a "Pretty Easy Decision."". LATimes.com.
  10. ↑ "Flames 2014-15 Sportsnet broadcast teams announced". NHL.com. August 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Kaitlin and Kelly Hrudey on enduring mental health struggles as a family". CBC.ca. May 8, 2016.
  12. ↑ Anderson, Jonathan (November 3, 2017). "Champions for change - reducing the stigma around mental health". mtroyal.ca.
  13. ↑ "Gretzky, Sawchuk and more: 'Uke' film documents Ukrainian NHL heritage | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
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