Kelly Hrudey Recalls Being Traded to the LA Kings 30 Years Ago

When Kelly Hrudey first found out he was getting traded to the LA Kings, he had a few choice words.
"I was angry. I had the regular hockey dream that I had always hoped I'd play for only one team and win multiple Stanley Cups and that never happened," he recently reminisced.
On February 21, 1989, Hrudey was in his sixth season with the New York Islanders when he learned his time with the club was coming to an end. During the afternoon prior to a game against the Red Wings, Hrudey was napping at home when his wife, Donna, woke him.
Emerging from his slumber, Hrudey immediately knew something was up because Donna would never disturb his pre-game routine. What Donna had to say, however, couldn't wait. She had just got off the phone with their lawyer, who told her he had heard a really credible rumour that Hrudey was going to be traded imminently.

Despite the disconcerting news, Hrudey still had a job to do. With his mind undoubtedly preoccupied about his fate with the team, he allowed six goals in a 6-5 loss to Detroit. Following the game, Islanders bench boss Al Arbour all but confirmed to Hrudey what he already knew.
"We were flying to Buffalo to play the next night and Al came up to me after the game and told me they were leaving me at home to rest me. Then I met with Bill Torrey [Islanders GM] the next morning and later that afternoon I was off to Los Angeles," he explained.
What began as a disappointing day, however, turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to Hrudey and his family.
"It was maybe the best eight years of my life playing hockey. I loved playing in LA. I loved my teammates. I loved the management and the ownership. Just a wonderful place to spend eight seasons," he fondly recalled.

It wasn't long before Hrudey felt like he was truly part of the Kings' family. Less than a month after he was traded, Donna gave birth to their second daughter, Megan. Following her arrival, Hrudey received a refreshing phone call from head coach Robbie Ftorek.
"We were in an important stretch of the year and he told me you're not going to come back to LA for five days. I thought, how generous," Hrudey remembered.
"The hockey world was changing and evolving with life. I wasn't allowed to be there when our oldest daughter Jessica was born because the team didn't believe in it at the time," he continued.
The Hrudeys were grateful for the additional time off, but after just a few days, Donna could sense that he was itching to get back. "The next day I hopped on a plane and joined my teammates again," Hrudey recollected.
Although Hrudey was happy to be back with his squad, his heart ached for his family. Not long after rejoining the Kings, Hrudey met with Kings owner Bruce McNall, who asked him how the family was doing. Hrudey said they were all doing well, but lamented how much he missed them.
When McNall asked him why they couldn't yet join him in Los Angeles, Hrudey informed him that since Megan was just a newborn she couldn't fly yet. Hearing none of that, McNall assured his new goaltender that he would take care of it.
"So he graciously flew out a plane for Donna and brought them out to LA. His generosity was so incredible. For many reasons we loved Bruce, but he would do simple things like that that really endeared him to you. There was a special bond between all of us and Bruce," Hrudey disclosed.
Playing in Los Angeles gave Hrudey the opportunity to elevate his game. He was no stranger to backstopping some of the game's greatest players, having joined the Islanders on the heels of the club winning four straight Stanley Cups, but this was different.
Hrudey joined a Kings roster that boasted the greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky.

"There's a pressure that goes with that. You have to try to raise your game to a standard that they've set. There's a responsibility that comes with that," Hrudey said.
"For instance, we might have gone to a market that wasn't a true hockey market but Wayne Gretzky's coming to town, so that building's sold out. We felt a responsibility to play our best hockey because it was important to all of us that we didn't want to go in a building and lose 6-1 and have people say, 'well what's so great about Wayne Gretzky.' I liked that stress of it," he added.
Hrudey thrived under that pressure and immediately endeared himself to the Kings fans. His performances on the ice were compelling, but so was his style. During his tenure with the Kings, Hrudey sported some equipment that paid tribute to Tinseltown, including his Hollywood mask and film reel pads.
"I had a pair of black and white pads, but I didn't think that was quite Hollywood enough," Hrudey illustrated. "The game was changing and, in LA, we were really trying to grow the game," he noted.
Recognizing that, Hrudey teamed up with his friend Lenny Davis, who did some marketing for him and artist Don Strauss to put together some concepts that really started to push the envelope and showcase some of the imagery that went along with playing in LA.
The Hollywood mask was actually inspired by Mike Richter's Statue of Liberty mask.
"When people look at the Hollywood mask they think that might have been my nickname or I was trying to be Hollywood, but that wasn't the case. I just thought the most iconic symbol surrounding LA was the Hollywood sign, so Don came up with a great design," Hrudey described.

Beyond the mask and pads, Hrudey was also known for his trademark blue bandana, which he fashioned from a t-shirt because it proved to be more absorbent than a regular headband.
What initially started out as a way to simply keep the sweat from irritating his eyes - since Hrudey wore contacts throughout his career - quickly became a favorite among fans, who sported bandanas of their own to replicate Hrudey's signature look.
The gimmick, however, started to wear on Hrudey and he wanted to ditch it altogether.
"Over time I started to hate it. I told my family one summer that I was going to get rid of it and they told me that I had to keep wearing it because I was recognized by the blue bandana," he explained.
Hrudey kept the bandana until he hung up his pads in 1998, but regrets only keeping a few of them as keepsakes.
"In hindsight, I probably could've sold a lot of them and made some money," he laughed.
Playing in Los Angeles not only gave Hrudey the opportunity to compete at the game's highest level - he backstopped the Kings' run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1993 - it also inadvertently set him up for a second career in broadcasting.
Hrudey always knew he wanted to get into broadcasting, even early on into his career with the Islanders.
"I used to love watching the broadcast. The period would end and I'd be glued to the TV and watch the intermission. Not only would I watch the intermission to see what the players were saying, but also the broadcasters," he explained.

By the time he arrived in Los Angeles, Hrudey began getting more creative during his own segments in order to make his answers more compelling to viewers.
He continued to hone his skills until one day he had the chance to do a taping with the legendary Stu Nahan from KTLA during a road game in Minnesota.
"I wasn't playing that night and I was Stu's first period intermission guest and we really hit it off. It wasn't just one of those thirty second interviews, it was a lengthy interview that might have lasted four of five minutes," Hrudey recalled.
That interview, however, proved to be significant for Hrudey.
"I found out a few years later that both Ron Maclean and John Shannon had both watched the interview and came to the conclusion that if ever given the chance they might want to give me an opportunity to be on Hockey Night in Canada," he explained.
Much to Hrudey's surprise, what might have been a chance interview in the middle of winter in Minnesota in the early 1990s, turned out to open the door to a fruitful broadcasting career spanning more than two decades so far.
Hrudey's time with the Kings came to an end following the 1995-96 season, but he still has a special place in his heart for the organization. On March 9, 2013, the Kings honored him as part of the Kings Legends Night Series presented by McDonald's.
For Hrudey, it was the perfect way to bookend his career with the club.
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"My favourite memories of playing the game of hockey were there. I had nothing but great memories of my time in LA and that just added to those experiences," he reminisced.
And of course, that night, the faithful crowd was given blue bandanas, a fitting tribute to the long-time fan favorite and netminder.