Fly West Mr. Murray

“Leadership and learning are indispensible to each other.”
--John F. Kennedy

There’s a difference between a good retread and a bad retread. Usually, the tell-tale sign is when you ask the fans of the coach’s former team and see what they think of him. So what better way to check Terry Murray’s credentials than to go straight to Philly fans? They have a tendency to hate everyone; so if he isn’t completely hated by now, then it should be a pretty good hiring.


The good thing about the Kings and Flyers constantly dealing with one another (apparently because of Lombardi’s relationships within their organization) is that my boy can give me the inside scoop on the people coming our way. Outside of being a Flyers fan, he has pretty good judgment when it comes to hockey. He’s a lot of help specifically with the eastern conference… I swear that dude knows NOTHING about hockey west of Detroit. When I asked him what was up with Terry Murray, his first reaction was a hesitant, “why are you asking?” I told him that it looked like the Kings were going to pick him up as their next head coach, and then I was pleasantly greeted with a list of expletives over the phone. “I was hoping he’d be OUR next coach! Damn it!” I took his anger as a good thing. If he was upset about losing an assistant coach, we might be onto something here. When he finally calmed down, again I asked what he knew about Murray. He broke down both of his tenures in Philadelphia and explained how he’s mostly responsible for the development of their young players. As soon as I heard that, I was sold. I don’t care if he’s been around the block a few times (euphemism for “retread”); if he’s good with young players, sign him up!


So it sounds like he did a good job in both of his stints in the City of Brotherly Love. The first time around, he took the team to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Red Wings. In fact, it was the spotlight of that very series that lead to his premature exit from Philadelphia. After a 6-1 loss in Game 3 of the Finals, he came out in the media and said, “It’s a choking situation.” Actually, a strong argument could be made to support his statement, but that’s beside the point. When you pissed off Eric Lindros AND Bobby Clarke in Philadelphia in the mid-1990s, the facts of any situation were secondary. He was fired after taking his team to the brink of a championship—a position they haven’t seen since.



His second (and most recent) run has been as an assistant coach. From everything I hear, it sounds like John Stevens put him in charge of their penalty kill and to help groom Philly’s younger players. In fact, it sounds like most of the Flyer fans hate John Stevens as their coach. If they were able to go from worst in the league to the Eastern Conference Finals in one year (and they still hate Stevens), there must be a reason. Of course, part of it can be attributed to acquiring a player like Daniel Briere. But I think a bigger part of their success was the development of younger players like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Randy Jones, Brandon Coburn, RJ Umberger, and Scott Hartnell. If the younger players were not able to grow into leadership and production roles, there’s no way the Flyers would have been able to right the ship so quickly.


Both of Murray’s other 2 NHL stops produced good/great results. In Washington, he was able to lead the Capitals to the Eastern Finals against the Bruins. Year in, year out, they experienced the most consistency in the history of their franchise. Hell, he was even able to make the Florida Panthers a contender. In 1999-2000, Murray helped guide the Panthers to 43 wins and 98 points (both franchise highs). Anyone that has the coaching ability to lead Florida to within a single victory of the century mark in points should be beyond reproach for the rest of his career. I mean, I think it’s harder to earn 100 points in Florida that it is to actually win the Cup in Detroit. That’s how hard it is to coach in South Beach! Definitely sounds like he was doing a good job.


Here’s the deal: I knew what characteristics I wanted for the next Kings to coach. First and foremost, he must be able to help develop younger players. If the Kings organization (and by extension, the King fans) are going to go through this tough rebuilding phase, then the coach better contribute to the development of the future. The team is depending on it to make them into a perennial contender. The perfect example is this upcoming season: if the Kings finish out of the playoffs, but each and every one of the young players makes significant strides within their development in the NHL, then it would have to be viewed as a productive year. I know people don’t want to hear it (and I don’t want to say it), but rebuilding takes time. There MUST be visible progress shown, but they won’t be playing deep into the playoffs overnight. It’s going to take time. Its Terry Murray’s mandate to make sure that all of the youth in the Kings organization continues to make strides towards filling their potential. If he succeeds in developing the talent, the wins will come.


The next quality I wanted for the head man of the Kings was a man that could preach defense. Under Marc Crawford, the Kings were notorious for having an atrocious defensive system. Even that gives Crawford too much credit, because I don’t think they had ANY system at all. This deficiency was highlighted whenever I watched yet another King goaltender get pulled out of a game because they were getting ZERO support in front of them. If they can get their team-defense figured out (forwards back checking as well as better play from defenseman), it will go a long way to working out the goaltending situation. Terry Murray, a former NHL defenseman, should be able to help on the defensive side of the puck. As long as he’s able to translate his wealth of knowledge into a system the players can fit into, it will be a vast improvement. A good system would play into the development factor as well. Let them grow within a system, see positive results, and gain confidence.


Lastly, the Kings were a complete disaster on the penalty kill last year. In both Florida and Philadelphia, his teams were always very strong on the penalty kill. Considering that Los Angeles was the worst team in the league on the PK last year, any improvement is welcomed. They were so bad, they gave up TWICE as many PP goals on the road than the Sharks did. That goes a long way to explaining why the Sharks were one of the favorites to advance deep into the playoffs, as well as clarifying why the Kings were one of the favorites to land Steven Stamkos.


As surprising as it is to me, Terry Murray may turn out to be the perfect fit for the present Kings team. His strong attributes seem to be tailor-made for the needs in Los Angeles. It’s a shock because usually I’m dead set against any recycled coach that’s already made tours around the league. My thoughts are usually, “If he got the boot from them, why would he be any better for us?” But the more I’ve thought about it, every situation is different. Dave Tippett’s been around for a while and I’d love for that guy to be the Kings’ coach. Andy Murray left the Kings about 2 and a half years ago, and it was just time to part ways. He was a great pick-up for St. Louis, but it was time for him to have a change of scenery. I know he’s a good coach, because I’d be completely open to having him come back after some time has passed. Once a coach’s message starts to fall on deaf ears, then its time for the team to move on to another coach. Plain and simple.


So what exactly is the difference between a good retread and a bad one? I think each situation’s different, but most importantly, the new coach has to be the right fit. Who’s right for the Kings rebuild could be completely different than the man for the Penguins Stanley Cup run. The teams are in different situations and should hire accordingly.


With all of the youth that looks to be on the roster this season, I thought that a young coach (possibly from juniors) would be perfect to help the younger players matured. But after looking into Terry Murray’s past, he looks like the perfect choice. If he’s able to accomplish the same things in Los Angeles as he has at all of his other stops, it should be a successful tenure.

Develop the kids, help the defense, and win. It doesn’t seem that difficult, does it?