Terry Murray

For the Irish footballer, see Terry Murray (Irish footballer).

Terry Murray
Born	(1950-07-20) July 20, 1950 Shawville, Quebec, Canada
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Right
Played for	California Golden Seals Philadelphia Flyers Detroit Red Wings Washington Capitals
Coached for	Washington Capitals Philadelphia Flyers Florida Panthers Los Angeles Kings Buffalo Sabres (assistant)
NHL draft	88th overall, 1970 California Golden Seals
Playing career	1970–1982
Coaching career	1983–2019

Terry Rodney Murray (born July 20, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and the former head coach of the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings.

Playing career

Murray was born in Shawville, Quebec. A defenceman in his playing days, Murray was drafted by the California Golden Seals in the 1970 NHL Entry Draft. He played for the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, and Washington Capitals.

Coaching career

Following his final season as an active player in 1981–82, he became an assistant coach for his brother Bryan Murray, then the Capitals' head coach, establishing the NHL's first brother coaching combination.

Murray later served as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Baltimore Skipjacks. He was promoted to the Capitals head coach position in the middle of the 1989–90 NHL season, replacing his brother Bryan. Under T. Murray's guidance, the Capitals advanced further into the NHL playoffs than ever before, winning two rounds before being swept by Boston in the conference finals. Murray coached the Capitals until the middle of the 1993–94 NHL season when he was replaced by Jim Schoenfeld.

After a brief coaching stint as head coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones in the IHL, Murray became head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, where he put together the "Legion of Doom" line consisting of Eric Lindros, John LeClair, and Mikael Renberg. In three seasons as head coach of the Flyers (1994–95 through 1996–97), Murray compiled a 118–64–30 record and coached the team to two Atlantic Division Championships (1994–95 and 1995–96) and to the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals as the Eastern Conference Champion. After beating three teams easily with 4-1 series wins, the Flyers were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in four games. Despite this accomplishment, Murray was fired after the end of the 1997 playoffs. One website had described Terry's shuffling of goaltenders Ron Hextall and Garth Snow to be unprofessional, while others felt it was a possible panic move, and even Snow was caught by surprise at the move after the Game 1 loss to have him in for Hextall.

When the Flyers lost 6-1 in Game 3, he described the result as a choking situation during a closed-door meeting with his players, which angered them since it "exposed and pulverized" the "fragility of the team's confidence". Murray served as a pro scout for the Flyers during the 1997–98 season, which saw Wayne Cashman named as coach, who was meant to be a more communicative coach.

During the 1998–99 season, Murray assumed the Panthers' head coaching position from his brother, Bryan, the interim Panthers' coach, after Doug MacLean was fired. In 1999–2000, Murray led the Panthers to a franchise record 98-point season, team-record 43 victories, and into the first round of the playoffs. He was replaced by Duane Sutter at the Panthers' helm in the fall of 2000.

Murray served as a pro scout for the Philadelphia Flyers over parts of three seasons (2000–01 to 2002–03) and joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach from 2003 to 2008.

He served as coach of the Los Angeles Kings from July 17, 2008, until December 12, 2011. At the time of his dismissal, he ranked third in franchise wins (139), fourth in games coached (275), and first in winning percentage (.560). Assistant coach John Stevens was named interim head coach. When the Kings won the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals under then-head coach Darryl Sutter, they requested the NHL to have Murray's name included on the cup but were denied by the NHL.

Murray then served as head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League. At the time, Murray was the only coach in the AHL who had coached in the league in the 1980s. He was later named as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres on June 18, 2015. He returned to the Phantoms as an assistant coach in December 2018.

Personal life

Terry and his wife, Linda, reside in Scarborough, Maine. They have two daughters, Meaghan and Lindsey.

Murray, one of ten children of Clarence and Rhoda Murray, was born and raised in the Ottawa Valley town of Shawville, Quebec, near Ottawa.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1965–66	Pembroke Lumber Kings	CJHL		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
1967–68	Ottawa 67's	OHA		52	0	4	4	59		—	—	—	—	—
1968–69	Ottawa 67's	OHA		50	1	16	17	39		7	0	1	1	4
1969–70	Ottawa 67's	OHA		50	4	24	28	43		5	0	0	0	2
1970–71	Providence Reds	AHL		57	1	22	23	47		10	0	1	1	5
1971–72	Baltimore Clippers	AHL		30	0	5	5	13		—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Boston Braves	AHL		9	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Oklahoma City Blazers	CHL		17	1	1	2	19		6	0	0	0	2
1972–73	California Golden Seals	NHL		23	0	3	3	4		—	—	—	—	—
1972–73	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	WHL		39	3	8	11	30		9	0	6	6	14
1973–74	California Golden Seals	NHL		58	0	12	12	48		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	California Golden Seals	NHL		9	0	2	2	8		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	Salt Lake Golden Eagles	CHL		62	5	30	35	122		11	2	2	4	30
1975–76	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		3	0	0	0	2		6	0	1	1	0
1975–76	Richmond Robins	AHL		67	8	48	56	95		6	1	4	5	2
1976–77	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		36	0	13	13	14		—	—	—	—	—
1976–77	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		23	0	7	7	10		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	Philadelphia Firebirds	AHL		7	2	1	3	13		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	Maine Mariners	AHL		68	9	40	49	53		12	1	7	8	28
1978–79	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		5	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Maine Mariners	AHL		55	14	23	37	14		10	1	5	6	6
1979–80	Maine Mariners	AHL		68	3	19	22	26		12	2	2	4	10
1980–81	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		71	1	17	18	53		12	2	1	3	10
1980–81	Maine Mariners	AHL		2	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Washington Capitals	NHL		74	3	22	25	60		—	—	—	—	—
AHL totals				363	37	159	196	261		50	5	19	24	51
NHL totals				302	4	76	80	199		18	2	2	4	10

NHL coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season							Post season
		G	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	Finish	W	L	Pct.	Result
WSH	1989–90	34	18	14	2	–	(78)	3rd in Patrick	8	7	.533	Lost in Conference finals (BOS)
WSH	1990–91	80	37	36	7	–	81	3rd in Patrick	5	6	.455	Lost in Division finals (PIT)
WSH	1991–92	80	45	27	8	–	98	2nd in Patrick	3	4	.429	Lost in Division semifinals (PIT)
WSH	1992–93	84	43	34	7	–	93	2nd in Patrick	2	4	.333	Lost in Division semifinals (NYI)
WSH	1993–94	47	20	23	4	–	(88)	Fired	–	–	–	–
WSH Total		325	163	134	28	–			18	21	.462	4 playoff appearances
PHI	1994–95	48	28	16	4	–	60	1st in Atlantic	10	5	.667	Lost in Conference finals (NJD)
PHI	1995–96	82	45	24	13	–	103	1st in Atlantic	6	6	.500	Lost in Conference semifinals (FLA)
PHI	1996–97	82	45	24	13	–	103	2nd in Atlantic	12	7	.632	Lost in Stanley Cup Finals (DET)
PHI Total		212	118	64	20	–			28	18	.609	3 playoff appearances
FLA	1998–99	82	30	34	18	–	78	2nd in Southeast	–	–	–	Missed playoffs
FLA	1999–00	82	43	27	6	6	98	2nd in Southeast	0	4	.000	Lost in Conference quarterfinals (NJD)
FLA	2000–01	36	6	18	7	5	(66)	Fired	–	–	–	–
FLA Total		200	79	79	31	11			0	4	.000	1 playoff appearance
LAK	2008–09	82	34	37	–	11	79	5th in Pacific	–	–	–	Missed playoffs
LAK	2009–10	82	46	27	–	9	101	3rd in Pacific	2	4	.333	Lost in Conference quarterfinals (VAN)
LAK	2010–11	82	46	30	–	6	98	4th in Pacific	2	4	.333	Lost in Conference quarterfinals (SJS)
LAK	2011–12	29	13	12	–	4	(95)	Fired	–	–	–	–
LAK Total		275	139	106	–	30			4	8	.333	2 playoff appearances
Total		1012	499	383	89	41			50	51	.495	10 playoff appearances

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com