Kelly Hrudey

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Kelly Hrudey bigraphy, stories - Canadian ice hockey player

Kelly Hrudey : biography

January 13, 1961 –

Kelly Hrudey (born January 13, 1961) is a former NHL ice hockey goaltender and current hockey broadcaster with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. During his NHL career, Hrudey played for the New York Islanders (1983–1989), Los Angeles Kings (1989–1996), and San Jose Sharks (1996–1998).

Biography

Playing career

Hrudey played junior hockey for three years with the WHL 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 (a playoff record) 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, he 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 team lost to Patrick Roy’s Montreal Canadiens. In 1996, he signed with the San Jose Sharks and played his last two seasons there before retiring in 1998.

Nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ while playing in LA, Hrudey was also known for wearing a blue bandana underneath his mask throughout his career.

Broadcasting career

During the latter years of his 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. He also participated in the "After Hours" show which followed the conclusion of the second game. A recurring segment of the show was "How I Padded My Stats Against Kelly Hrudey," in which the player guest is shown highlights (if applicable) of goals they scored on Hrudey. 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 Ron MacLean and Mike Milbury on HNIC’s primary studio team.

Hrudey also makes a weekly appearance on the TEAM 1040 in Vancouver with Rick Ball.

Personal life

Hrudey lives with his wife Donna and their three daughters in Calgary, Alberta. Hrudey was honored by the Los Angeles Kings in a pre-game ceremony prior to the team’s game against the Calgary Flames on March 9, 2013.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T 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
1980–81 Medicine Hat Tigers WHL 55 32 19 1 3023 200 4 3.97 .895
1981–82 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 51 27 19 4 3033 149 1 2.95 .900
1982–83 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 47 26 17 1 2744 139 2 3.04 .894
1983–84 Indianapolis Checkers CHL 6 3 2 1 370 21 0 3.40
1983–84 New York Islanders NHL 12 7 2 0 535 28 0 3.14 .903
1984–85 New York Islanders NHL 41 19 17 3 2335 141 2 3.62 .886
1985–86 New York Islanders NHL 45 19 15 8 2563 137 1 3.21 .906
1986–87 New York Islanders NHL 46 21 15 7 2634 145 0 3.30 .881
1987–88 New York Islanders NHL 47 22 17 5 2751 153 3 3.34 .896
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
1989–90 Los Angeles Kings NHL 52 22 21 6 2860 194 2 4.07 .873
1990–91 Los Angeles Kings NHL 47 26 13 6 2730 132 3 2.90 .900
1991–92 Los Angeles Kings NHL 60 27 17 13 3509 197 1 3.37 .897
1992–93 Los Angeles Kings NHL 50 18 21 6 2718 175 2 3.86 .897
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
NHL totals 677 271 265 88 38,081 2174 17 3.42 .893