Kelly Hrudey

**Kelly Hrudey** (born on January 13, 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender who played in the NHL for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks.

He is currently a hockey broadcaster with Sportsnet as an analyst for "Hockey Night in Canada" and the Calgary Flames as a commentator.

## 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.

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

In 1989, Hrudey was traded to the Los Angeles Kings and would play there for eight seasons. His most notable achievement was playing in the 1993 Stanley Cup finals, but the Kings lost to the Montreal Canadiens.

In 1996, he signed with the San Jose Sharks and played his last two seasons there before retiring in 1998.

## Broadcasting Career

During the latter years of Hrudey's playing career (in the event his team missed the post-season), he often joined "Hockey Night in Canada" as a studio analyst to supplement their playoff coverage.

After retiring, he joined the broadcast team full-time as an 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.

He co-hosts Monday and Wednesday from his home studio in Calgary. For the 2008–09 season, he began working alongside Ron MacLean and Mike Milbury on HNIC's primary studio team. He 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 of 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 resides with his wife Donna and their three daughters in Signal Hill, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He does advocacy work in the field of mental health, inspired in part by his daughter's struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

On November 3, 2017, Hrudey received an honorary degree from Mount Royal University for his mental health advocacy efforts.