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Credit: Sportsnet
Longtime hockey broadcaster Kelly Hrudey announced this week that his time with Hockey Night in Canada has come to an end after Sportsnet didn’t renew his contract.
The 65-year-old said in a social media post on Wednesday that he was told in June that his contract would not be renewed, ending a 28-year-run as a full-time HNIC contributor since he retired from the NHL in 1998.
“I thank you, the viewer. You might have hated me or loved me — I’m OK with either,” he said in his video posted on August 5. The longtime hockey broadcaster thanked all the people who helped and supported him throughout his almost three decades in the role, though he added, “By the way, this is not a retirement.”
Hrudey spent 15 seasons in the NHL as a goalie, playing for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. While playing, he began appearing on HNIC’s Behind the Mask segment, where he analyzed NHL goalies’ play. As he got older, whenever his team didn’t qualify for the playoffs, he would join HNIC for its postseason coverage, which eventually led to a full-time role when he retired.
Sportsnet’s decision not to renew Hrudey’s contract also means they’ll need to replace him in the Calgary Flames booth for regional broadcasts. He had been a part of Flames broadcasts for 12 years.
Rogers Communications took over Canadian NHL national broadcast rights in 2014, airing games on Sportsnet and Citytv, though Hockey Night in Canada games still appeared on CBC-TV under a sublicensing arrangement through this season. That arrangement ended after the conclusion of the season, and Hrudey’s expiring contract was presumably tied to that decision.
Hrudey joins reporter Scott Oake, who hosted HNIC’s After Hours segment for over two decades, in leaving the program. He announced his retirement in April.
The post Longtime ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ broadcaster Kelly Hrudey’s contract with Sportsnet expired appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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