Kelly Hrudey

Kelly Hrudey (; born January 13, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender and former 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 (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks from 1983 to 1998.

Playing career Hrudey played junior ice hockey for three years with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League (WHL), being named to WHL Second All-Star Team in 1980–81. On June 11, 1980, Kelly was drafted in the second round (38th overall) of the 1980 NHL entry draft by the New York Islanders. Hrudey played for the Indianapolis Checkers, New York's Central Hockey League (CHL) affiliate, before joining the Islanders.

New York Islanders

With Hall of Famer Billy Smith entrenched in the Islanders net, Hrudey managed to begin splitting the goaltending duties starting in the 1984–85, his first full season with the club. Hrudey's arrival allowed the Islanders to trade goaltender Roland Melanson to the Minnesota North Stars for a first-round pick.

Hrudey was the Islanders' goaltender during the seventh game of the division semifinals series against the Washington Capitals on April 18, 1987, when New York defeated the Capitals in the longest game in franchise history, a four-overtime game seven known as the "Easter Epic", which was won on a goal by Pat LaFontaine after 68:47 minutes of overtime. Hrudey made 73 saves in a 3–2 victory. Hrudey's 73 saves in a single game was an NHL record until Joonas Korpisalo's 85-save performance for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 3–2 five-overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first round series of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs on August 11, 2020.

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

Los Angeles Kings Despite finishing in the top five in voting for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender in two of his final three seasons in New York, Hrudey was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on February 22, 1989.

Hrudey was initially angry about the trade, because he had always dreamt of playing his career with one club, but he quickly adjusted and became an important part of the Wayne Gretzky-era Kings. Since his usual number #30 was retired by the Kings in honor of Rogie Vachon, Hrudey switched to number #32; he would wear this number for the rest of his playing career. His most notable moment with Los Angeles was playing in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final where the Kings lost to the Montreal Canadiens. In the 1994 NHL entry draft, the Kings selected goaltender Jamie Storr with a seventh overall pick, 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 appreciated his time with the Kings, saying "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." 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 1997, when the club traded for All-Star goaltender 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, and managing just four wins. After the 1997–98 season, Hrudey retired on July 30, 1998, and joined CBC Television's Hockey Night in Canada as an analyst.

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 playoffs. 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 ice 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 ice hockey coverage. In addition to his Hockey Night in Canada'' role, he along with Ball became the new announcers for the Calgary Flames regional broadcasts. In August 2026, Hrudey announced on X that Sportsnet was not renewing his contract, and thanked the viewers as well as his colleagues both in front of and behind the camera. He stated that he was not retiring.

Personal life Hrudey and his wife have three children and live 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 descent.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs 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 3,093 318 0 6.17 — — — — — — — — — 1979–80 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 57 25 23 4 3,049 212 1 4.17 .899 13 6 6 638 48 0 4.51 — 1980–81 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 55 32 19 1 3,023 200 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 3,033 149 1 2.95 .900 13 11 2 842 34 1 2.42 — 1982–83 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 47 26 17 1 2,744 139 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 2,335 141 2 3.62 .886 5 1 3 281 8 0 1.71 .946 1985–86 New York Islanders NHL 45 19 15 8 2,563 137 1 3.21 .906 2 0 2 120 6 0 3.00 .898 1986–87 New York Islanders NHL 46 21 15 7 2,634 145 0 3.30 .881 14 7 7 842 38 0 2.71 .918 1987–88 New York Islanders NHL 47 22 17 5 2,751 153 3 3.34 .896 6 2 4 380 23 0 3.62 .851 1988–89 New York Islanders NHL 50 18 24 3 2,800 183 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 2,860 194 2 4.07 .873 9 4 4 539 39 0 3.62 .853 1990–91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 47 26 13 6 2,730 132 3 2.90 .900 12 6 6 798 37 0 2.78 .903 1991–92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 60 27 17 13 3,509 197 1 3.37 .897 6 2 4 355 22 0 3.72 .877 1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 50 18 21 6 2,718 175 2 3.86 .897 20 10 10 1,261 74 0 3.52 .887 1993–94 Los Angeles Kings NHL 64 22 31 7 3,713 228 1 3.68 .897 — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Los Angeles Kings NHL 25 14 13 5 1,894 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 2,077 113 0 3.26 .907 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 San Jose Sharks NHL 48 16 24 5 26,31 140 0 3.19 .889 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 San Jose Sharks NHL 28 4 16 2 1,360 62 1 2.74 .897 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .833NHL totals 677 271 265 88 38,081 2174 17 3.43 .893 85 36 46 5,161 283 0 3.29 .891

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1986 Canada WC 5 — — 0 299 22 0 4.41 —Senior totals 5 — — 0 299 22 0 4.41 —