Kelly Hrudey (; born January 13, 1961) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near ...

. He is a current hockey broadcaster with

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was ...

as an analyst for ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'' and the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...

as a commentator. During his NHL career, Hrudey played for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...

(

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

–

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

(

–

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

), and

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertain ...

(

–

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Biography

Playing career

Hrudey played

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

for three years with the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior ...

Medicine Hat Tigers The Medicine Hat Tigers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) who play in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Established in 1970, the team has won two national Memorial Cups, five WHL League Championships and seven Di ...

. He was drafted in the second round (38th overall) of the

1980 NHL Entry Draft The 1980 NHL Entry Draft was the 18th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum. This was the first time that an NHL arena hosted the draft.The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.241, Published in Canada by Doubled ...

by the

. Hrudey first played for the Indianapolis Checkers, New York's

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

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 The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

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 Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...

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 The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play ...

33 years later. Later in 1987, he was the third string goaltender on Team Canada during the

1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team ...

, but did not appear in a game. In 1989, he was traded to the

and would play there for eight seasons. 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 The 1993 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1992–93 season, and the culmination of the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Los Angeles Kings and the Montreal Canadiens. I ...

, but the team lost to

Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender and executive, who serves as the head coach for the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). In 2017, Roy was named o ...

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

. In 1996, he signed with the

and played his last two seasons there before retiring in 1998.

Broadcasting career

During the latter years of his playing career, he often joined ''

'' as a studio analyst to supplement their playoff coverage if his team missed or was eliminated from

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

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 Scott Oake (born 1952 or 1953) is a Gemini Award-winning Canadian sportscaster for CBC Sports, Sportsnet, and Hockey Night in Canada. Biography Early life Oake was born in 1952 or 1953 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and raised in Sydney's "Shipyards" ...

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 Elliotte Friedman (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian sports journalist. He currently serves as a hockey reporter for Sportsnet and as an insider for the NHL Network. He is a regular panelist on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. Early life an ...

on ''HNICs lead studio team. Hrudey also made a weekly appearance on the TSN 1040 in Vancouver with

Rick Ball Rick Ball is a Canadian sportscaster who currently works as a hockey play-by-play announcer on Sportsnet's regional Calgary Flames broadcasts as well as Hockey Night In Canada and NHL on Sportsnet. A British Columbia Institute of Technology grad ...

. With

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sports ...

, the parent company of

, 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

regional broadcasts.

Personal life

Hrudey lives with his wife Donna and their three daughters in Signal Hill, Calgary, Alberta. Hrudey does advocacy work in the field of mental health, inspired in part by his daughter's struggles with

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He received an honorary degree from

Mount Royal University Mount Royal University (MRU) is a public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. History Mount Royal University was founded by Alberta provincial charter by the Arthur Sifton government on December 16, 1910 and officially opened on September 8, ...

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

International

Awards

* WHL Second All-Star Team – 1981

References

External links

stats from hockeydb.comHrudey's commentator profile on CBC.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrudey, Kelly 1961 births Canadian colour commentators Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian television sportscasters Sportspeople from Edmonton Indianapolis Checkers (CHL) players Living people Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Los Angeles Kings players Medicine Hat Tigers players National Hockey League broadcasters New York Islanders draft picks New York Islanders players Phoenix Roadrunners (IHL) players San Jose Sharks players Ice hockey people from Alberta