1988-89 Los Angeles Kings Kelly Hrudey Jersey

New York Islanders goaltender Kelly Hrudey began his 1988-89 season with a 4-4 tie against the Calgary Flames on October 10th. His first win came in his third start of the season, a 3-2 win on the road against the Vancouver Canucks. The Islanders returned home to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on October 15th followed by another victory over the Canucks on the 18th by the same 3-2 score as their first meeting to extend his winning streak to three games.

Four straight losses followed before Hrudey and the Islanders put together back-to-back wins on November 5th over the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers on the 8th, both by identical 4-3 scores.

Following a tie and three losses, Hrudey won his 6th game over the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4 on November 19th. Unfortunately, the Islanders would suffer a ten game losing streak, with Hrudey taking the loss in eight of those games.

The streak was broken on December 26th in Toronto, as the Islanders would defeat the Maple Leafs 4-3.  Five days later, on New Year's Eve back at home at the Nassau Coliseum, the Capitals would fall to Hrudey and the Islanders again, this time 6-4.

The Islanders lost their next three games before traveling to face the New Jersey Devils, who they defeated on January 13th 5-3.

A six game home stand for the Islanders began with a defeat by the Chicago Blackhawks, with goaltending partner Billy Smith taking the loss after allowing 4 goals in the first 14 minutes before Hrudey played the final 46 minutes without allowing a goal. Hrudey's tenth win of the season came on the 17th over the Penguins 5-2, which was quickly followed by two more victories over the Los Angeles Kings and the Minnesota North Stars.

Hrudey dons his trademark headband

A tie against New Jersey was followed by a win over the Winnipeg Jets to conclude the homestand on January 26th. Two losses on the road were matched by two wins, at home against the Hartford Whalers  and on the road versus the Quebec Nordiques. After two more road games, both losses, the Islanders returned to Long Island for a three game homestand, all wins over the Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers. Those three wins gave Hrudey 18 wins for the season.

Jeff Hackett took the loss for the Islanders on February 19th against Philadelphia before Hrudey was tagged with a loss on the 21st at home against the Detroit Red Wings to make his record 18-24-3.

The next day, Hrudey was sent across the continent when he was traded to the Kings for goatlender Mark Fitzpatrick, defenseman Wayne McBean and future considerations, which ended up being defenseman Doug Crossman.

Hrudey made his debut for the Kings on February 24th with a loss to the Oilers in Edmonton. The Kings next travelled to New Jersey where they tied the Devils 1-1. Hrudey's first win for the Kings came on March 1st in Buffalo against the Sabres. Their long road trip ended with a loss in St, Louis.

Hrudey fresh off the plane from New York with

an undecorated mask and his Islanders colored goal pads

A four game winning streak followed with victories over the Flyers and Penguins in Los Angeles and the Oilers and Nordiques on the road. After a defeat at Montreal, Hrudey won his second game in Edmonton in nine days.

A defeat in Calgary was followed by a another win versus Edmonton in Los Angeles. Unusually, the Kings hosted Winnipeg on back-to-back nights at hime, the first ending in a tie and the second a 2-1 win for Los Angeles.

The Kings season then concluded with a home-and-home series against the Canucks, a 6-4 win on April 1st in Los Angeles followed by a 5-4 win in Vancouver on this date in 1989 to give Hrudey a 10-4-2 record while with the Kings, making him the first goaltender in 72 years of NHL history to win ten games for two different teams in the same season.

Also of note, dating back to March 12th in Edmonton, the final ten games of Hrudey's season all came against Canadian teams - Edmonton, Quebec, Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver. If that weren't enough, the Kings then eliminated Edmonton in six games in the first round of the playoffs before being swept by Calgary in four straight, pushing Hrudey's Canadian-based opposition to 21 consecutive games!

Today's featured jersey is a 1988-89 Los Angeles Kings Kelly Hrudey jersey, as worn the season he became the first goaltender to win ten games for two different teams in the same season.

1988-89 was the first season for the Kings new jerseys, which coincided with the arrival of Wayne Gretzky to California. The first three seasons saw the white jerseys with silver names and numbers outlined in black. In 1991-92 they changed to silver trimmed in white and outlined in black, but the names were very difficult to read and were changed the following season to one color black names, as well as finally changing the numbers from the lower contrast silver to black, which was trimmed in white and outlined in silver for the final six years for the black and silver look.

Today's video selection is Hrudey being honored by the Kings on Legends Night.