Kelly Hrudey
Kelly was born in Edmonton, Alberta and often vacationed with his parents and older brother in and around Banff and Jasper throughout his childhood, where his great appreciation and love for the mountains began. Kelly met his wife, Donna, in Medicine Hat in 1980 while playing for the Medicine Hat Tigers, and they married in June 1984.
Kelly was drafted in 1980 by the New York Islanders and began his 15-year-long NHL career, where he played for the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. After retiring in 1998, Kelly, Donna and their three daughters, Jessica, Megan and Kaitlin, moved to Calgary, Alberta, to be closer to their extended families.
Kelly is in his 24th year of being a hockey analyst for Hockey Night in Canada. Kelly and his family have been strong advocates for mental health initiatives over the past ten years, which is one of Kelly’s proudest accomplishments.
Jessica was born in Plainview, New York but spent most of her childhood in California before moving to Calgary in 1998 at 12 years old. Since a young age, Jessica has had a passion for helping others which ultimately led to her completing a BA in Psychology from the University of Alberta in 2008.
Jessica is a Youth Facilitator/Caseworker for McMan Youth Family & Community Services and is taking her Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. Jessica married her husband, Matt, in 2016, and they welcomed their first child, Maverick, in 2018 and their second son, Archie, in 2021.
Just over a year ago, on January 2nd, 2022, their son Maverick had two seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy on January 3rd, 2022. Since then, Jessica and Matt have leaned on the support of their friends and family and are committed to supporting the development and expansion of pediatric epilepsy programs.