Bryan Murray (ice hockey)

Bryan Murray
Born	Bryan Clarence Murray December 5, 1942 (1942-12-05) Shawville, Quebec
Occupation	General Manager of the Ottawa Senators

Bryan Clarence Murray (born December 5, 1942 in Shawville, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and executive. He currently serves as general manager of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously been general manager of the NHL's Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings. He was also the head coach for the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and Ottawa Senators, for a total of 17 full or partial seasons. He has compiled over 600 NHL victories in regular season games. In his 13 full NHL seasons as head coach, he has taken his teams to the playoffs 12 times. In other leagues, he has been head coach of the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears and the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats. Bryan's younger brother, Terry Murray, is the former head coach for the Los Angeles Kings.

Early life

Murray played hockey in his hometown of Shawville growing up, joining the Shawville Pontiacs intermediate club at age 14. He later joined the Rockland Nationals of the Central Junior Hockey League. He attended Macdonald College, a suburban campus of McGill University, which is located in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec. He returned to Shawville and worked as a gym teacher. He then went into business buying a local motel.

Early coaching career

Murray began his coaching career as a part-time coach with the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the CJHL. He earned a good reputation as a coach and was offered a job by the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. He left his business interests in the hands of family members, and moved west. He took Regina to the Memorial Cup title in 1974. Murray then moved to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League as an assistant coach. Murray was on the coaching staff of Doug John Gibson when Gibson won AHL Coach of the Year in 1979–80. Murray then became head coach of Hershey for 1980–81, and served in that role until he was promoted to head coach of Washington, Hershey's parent NHL team, partway through the next season, 1981–82.

NHL coach and general manager

In seven full seasons with Washington, Murray brought the team to the playoffs each year, and these playoff appearances were the first in franchise history. In his second year, the Capitals won their first playoff series. However, his teams did not advance beyond the second round. He won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 1984. Murray was fired partway through the 1989–90 season, with the team struggling, and was replaced by his brother Terry Murray.

In 1990 Murray became coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. The team had good results in his three seasons, making the playoffs each year, but not getting beyond the second round. Murray remained as general manager in 1993-94 after the team named Scotty Bowman as head coach. Murray departed the Red Wings following the season.

Murray was next appointed general manager of the expansion Florida Panthers in 1994. In 1996, the young Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, and Murray was selected as NHL Executive of the Year. Murray also coached the Panthers for part of the 1997–98 season.

He next joined the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim as head coach for 2001–2002. From 2002–2004 Murray was general manager of the Mighty Ducks, and again saw his team quickly make a mark in the playoffs, reaching the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals. After a disappointing 2003–2004 season with the Mighty Ducks, he surprised many by deciding to resign from the GM post in Anaheim and move back to the Ottawa Valley, to become head coach of the Ottawa Senators.

On February 20, 2007, he became the fifth NHL coach to achieve 600 victories, in a shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers. Despite this impressive number of victories (at the time the most among active NHL coaches), Murray has yet to win a Stanley Cup. In his most recent trip to the Finals as head coach, in 2007, the Senators team that he coached lost in five games to his former club, the Anaheim Ducks. That was the only season in Murray's 17 years as an NHL head coach that his team advanced beyond the second playoff round.

Murray was promoted to general manager of the Senators on June 18, 2007, and assistant coach John Paddock took over the head coaching duties. However, on February 27, 2008, Murray fired Paddock after the team struggled through January and February, despite a 15–2 start which had put them in first place. Murray served as head coach for the remainder of the 2007–08 season, with the team finishing in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. His team was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Craig Hartsburg was hired as the new coach of the team in June 2008. After the Senators struggled for most of the 2008–09 NHL season, Murray fired Hartsburg after a 7–4 loss in Washington. In 48 games as head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Hartsburg posted a 17–24–7 record. Cory Clouston, head coach of the AHL's Binghamton Senators, the team's top farm club, was hired as interim head coach, and Clouston was appointed as head coach on a two-year contract following the end of that season. Murray signed a three-year contract extension as general manager on April 8, 2011, and fired Clouston and two assistant coaches on April 9, 2011, following the Senators' last game; the Senators had been beset by injuries to key players such as captain Daniel Alfredsson and star forward Jason Spezza, leading to a midseason collapse. Murray made a flurry of trades in 2011, after the Senators had fallen out of contention, and promoted many younger players from the team's Binghamton farm club.

Personal life

Murray is one of ten children of Clarence and Rhoda Murray, was born and raised in the small Ottawa Valley town of Shawville, Quebec, near Ottawa. Murray attended Pontiac High School. Murray and his wife, Geri, have two daughters, Heide and Brittany.

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season							Post Season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	Result
WAS	1981–82	66	25	28	13	-	(65)	5th in Patrick	Missed Playoffs
WAS	1982–83	80	39	25	16	-	94	3rd in Patrick	Lost in first round
WAS	1983–84	80	48	27	5	-	101	2nd in Patrick	Lost in second round
WAS	1984–85	80	46	25	9	-	101	2nd in Patrick	Lost in first round
WAS	1985–86	80	50	23	7	-	107	2nd in Patrick	Lost in second round
WAS	1986–87	80	38	32	10	-	86	2nd in Patrick	Lost in first round
WAS	1987–88	80	38	33	9	-	85	3rd in Patrick	Lost in second round
WAS	1988–89	80	41	29	10	-	92	1st in Patrick	Lost in first round
WAS	1989–90	46	18	24	4	-	(78)	1st in Patrick	(fired)
DET	1990–91	80	34	38	8	-	76	3rd in Norris	Lost in first round
DET	1991–92	80	43	25	12	-	98	1st in Norris	Lost in second round
DET	1992–93	84	47	28	9	-	103	2nd in Norris	Lost in first round
FLA	1997–98	59	17	31	11	-	(63)	6th in Atlantic	Missed Playoffs
ANA	2001–02	82	29	42	8	3	69	5th in Pacific	Missed Playoffs
OTT	2005–06	82	52	21	-	9	113	1st in Northeast	Lost in second round
OTT	2006–07	82	48	25	-	9	105	2nd in Northeast	Lost in Cup Final
OTT	2007–08	18	7	9	-	2	(94)	2nd in Northeast	Lost in first round
Total		1239	620	465	131	23

Transaction record as GM

Detroit

• November 27, 1990: Traded Lee Norwood to the New Jersey Devils for Paul Ysebaert.
• February 4, 1991: Acquired Brad Marsh from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Detroit's eighth-round pick (Robb McIntyre) in 1991 Entry Draft.
• February 20, 1991: Traded Doug Houda to the Hartford Whalers for Doug Crossman.
• March 5, 1991: Acquired Allan Bester from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Detroit's sixth-round pick in 1991 Entry Draft.
• March 5, 1991: Traded Joey Kocur and Per Djoos to the New York Rangers for Kevin Miller, Jim Cummins and Dennis Vial.
• October 18, 1991: Traded Rick Zombo to the St. Louis Blues for Vincent Riendeau.
• December 18, 1991: Traded Daniel Shank to the Hartford Whalers for Chris Tancill
• March 10, 1992: Traded Johan Garpenlov to the San Jose Sharks for Bob McGill and a 1992 eighth-round draft choice.
• December 26, 1991: Acquired Greg Millen from the New York Rangers for future considerations.
• June 22, 1992: Traded Doug Crossman and Dennis Vial to the Quebec Nordiques for cash considerations.
• January 29, 1993: Traded Jimmy Carson, Gary Shuchuk and Marc Potvin to the Los Angeles Kings for Paul Coffey, Sylvain Couturier and Jim Hiller.
• March 22, 1993: Acquired Steve Konroyd from the Hartford Whalers for a sixth-round draft choice in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
• January 17, 1994: Traded Vincent Riendeau to the Boston Bruins for a 1995 conditional draft pick.
• March 8, 1994: Traded Tim Cheveldae and Dallas Drake to the Winnipeg Jets for Bob Essensa and Sergei Bautin.
• March 21, 1994: Traded Steve Konroyd traded to the Ottawa Senators for Daniel Berthiaume.

Florida

• February 28, 1996: Acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks for future considerations
• March 15, 1996: Claimed Martin Straka off waivers from the New York Islanders.
• March 20, 1996: Traded Jesse Belanger to the Vancouver Canucks for Vancouver's third-round pick in 1996 Entry Draft and future considerations.
• November 19, 1996: Traded Stu Barnes and Jason Woolley to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Chris Wells.
• March 18, 1997: Acquired Kirk Muller from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jason Podollan.
• January 16, 1998: Traded Mark Fitzpatrick and Jody Hull to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Jeff Norton and Dino Ciccarelli.
• March 24, 1998: Traded Tom Fitzgerald to the Colorado Avalanche for the rights of Mark Parrish and Anaheim's third-round pick in 1998 Entry Draft (previously acquired).
• March 24, 1998: Acquired Kirk McLean from the Carolina Hurricanes for Ray Sheppard.
• November 11, 1998: Traded Jeff Norton to the San Jose Sharks for Alex Hicks and fifth-round pick in the 1999 draft (Adam Johnson)
• January 17, 1999: Acquired Pavel Bure, Bret Hedican, Brad Ference and Vancouver's third-round draft choice (Robert Fried) in 2000, from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes and Florida's first-round draft choice (Nathan Smith) in 2000
• March 14, 2000: Traded Ryan Johnson and Dwayne Hay to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Mike Sillinger.
• June 24, 2000: Acquired Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen from the New York Islanders in exchange for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.

Anaheim

• July 3, 2002: Traded Jeff Friesen, Oleg Tverdovsky and Maxim Balmochnykh to the New Jersey Devils for Petr Sýkora, Mike Commodore, Jean-François Damphousse and Igor Pohanka.
• January 30, 2003: Traded Pavel Trnka, Matt Cullen and Anaheim's 2003 fourth-round draft choice to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Sandis Ozolinsh and Lance Ward.
• March 11, 2003: Traded Mike Commodore and Jean-François Damphousse to the Calgary Flames for Rob Niedermayer.
• March 11, 2003: Acquired Steve Thomas from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2003 fifth-round draft pick (Alexei Ivanov).
• January 17, 2004 : Traded Todd Reirden to the Phoenix Coyotes for future considerations.
• February 4, 2004: Traded Todd Simpson to the Ottawa Senators for Petr Schastlivy.
• February 21, 2004: Traded Kurt Sauer and a 2005 fourth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for Martin Skoula.

Ottawa

• July 17, 2007 – Traded Peter Schaefer to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Shean Donovan
• February 11, 2008 – Traded Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves to the Carolina Hurricanes for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman.
• February 26, 2008 – Traded a sixth-round draft pick in 2008 (#169, Ben Smith) to the Chicago Blackhawks for Martin Lapointe
• June 25, 2008 – Traded Brian McGrattan to the Phoenix Coyotes for the Boston Bruins' fifth-round draft pick in 2009 (#146, Jeff Costello)
• August 29, 2008 – Traded Andrej Meszaros to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and San Jose's first-round draft pick (previously acquired) in 2009.
• September 2, 2008 – Traded Lawrence Nycholat to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Ryan Shannon
• November 10, 2008 – Traded Alexander Nikulin to the Phoenix Coyotes for Drew Fata
• February 20, 2009 – Traded Dean McAmmond and San Jose's first-round draft pick in 2009 (#26, Kyle Palmieri) to the New York Islanders in exchange for Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli
• March 4, 2009 – Traded Antoine Vermette to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Pascal Leclaire and a second-round draft pick in 2009 (#46, Robin Lehner).
• September 12, 2009 – Traded Dany Heatley and a fifth-round draft pick in 2010 to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Milan Michalek, Jonathan Cheechoo and San Jose's second-round draft pick in 2010.
• February 12, 2010 – Traded Alexandre Picard and a second-round draft pick in 2011 to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Matt Cullen.
• March 2, 2010 – Traded a second-round draft pick in 2010 to the New York Islanders in exchange for Andy Sutton.
• June 25, 2010 – Traded a first-round draft pick in 2010(#16, Vladimir Tarasenko) to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for David Rundblad.
• February 10, 2011 - Traded Mike Fisher to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a first-round pick in 2011 and conditional(second-round) pick in 2012.
• December 17, 2011 - Traded David Rundblad and a second-round pick in 2012 to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Kyle Turris.

External links

• Ottawa Sun profile
• Ottawa at Home profile