Kelly Hrudey let go from Sportsnet broadcasts after 30-plus-year career

A longtime voice and presence in the game is being pushed away from the limelight.

In a post on his personal X account, former NHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey revealed that his contract with Sportsnet wasn’t being renewed.

“Big changes in my life,” Hrudey said.

Hrudey was sure to thank the viewers who have watched him since he took off his pads following an illustrious 18-year career in the NHL, and grabbed a microphone in 1998.

“I look back, and I thank you, the viewer, who might have hated me or loved me. I’m okay with either.”

Hrudey was sure to also thank a lot of the people that he worked with in his 28 years on the job on Hockey Night in Canada.

“I also think of all my friends. You weren’t a co-worker to me, you were a friend. I think of all the people – the producers, the directors. Everybody behind the scenes that I worked with. Hair and clothing. Make-up…you did an impossible job. You made me look relatively okay, I guess, some nights. If you were in a control room, a production truck somewhere, I thank all of you for your hard work behind the scenes.”

In his time on Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada, Hrudey was a mainstay. After being used sparingly in the later years of his playing career, Hrudey became a full-time member of the studio crew, receiving his own segment, “Behind the Mask,” in the second game of the HNIC doubleheader. When Sportsnet received exclusive broadcast rights in Canada in 2014, Hrudey became a color commentator for regional Calgary Flames broadcasts, while also working on the panel on Saturday nights.

“Everybody I was on-air with,” Hrudey described. “You guys are the best. I love you so much. I love your support…I look back fondly on all of our memories that we created.”

Hrudey admitted that he isn’t going into retirement, but was very ambiguous about what his next venture would be.

Hrudey’s announcement comes as Sportsnet effectively ended its partnership with CBC, ending Hockey Night in Canada. For the first time in three quarters of a century, NHL games won’t be nationally televised on CBC on Saturday nights, creating a massive void in Canadian culture.