Andy Murray

Andy Murray (born March 3, 1951) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey coach who most recently led the Western Michigan Broncos men’s team in the NCAA’s NCHC. He previously served as head coach of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues. With two decades of NHL experience as either an assistant or head coach, Murray also worked at the junior, high school, college, minor-league, and European professional levels. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2012.

Murray grew up working at his family’s auto dealership in Souris, Manitoba. In 1976, at age 25, his uncle hired him to coach the Brandon Travellers after a brawl. Three years later, he became head coach at Brandon University while still working at the dealership. His father died the day after a win that qualified Brandon for a national tournament, and Murray then took a coaching job in Switzerland.

In 1988, he became an assistant coach for the Hershey Bears of the AHL; the Bears won the Calder Cup that year, and he was promoted to assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers under Paul Holmgren. After two seasons there, he joined the Minnesota North Stars as an assistant under Bob Gainey, reaching the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals. In 1992, he returned to Switzerland to coach Lugano but quit two months later after a fan revolt. He then coached in Germany before returning as an NHL assistant with the Winnipeg Jets under John Paddock, staying until 1995.

Murray coached the Canadian National Team from 1996 to 1998 and spent the 1998–99 season as head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School.

On June 14, 1999, Murray replaced Larry Robinson as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, a position he held for seven seasons. He finished as the franchise’s all-time leader in wins (215) and games coached (480). His best playoff run came in 2001, when the Kings forced the Colorado Avalanche to a seven-game Western Conference Semifinal after trailing three games to one. Murray drew media attention by telling any player not giving full effort not to travel to Colorado for Game 5; the Kings won that game 1–0, and Glen Murray’s double-overtime goal in Game 6 gave them another 1–0 win.

On March 21, 2006, the Kings fired Murray despite a 37–28–5 record, and he provided color commentary for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada during the 2006 playoffs. On December 11, 2006, the St. Louis Blues hired him to replace Mike Kitchen after a seven-game losing streak. In his first full season (2007–2008), the Blues went 33–36–13. In 2009, he coached the team from 15th place in the Western Conference at the All-Star break to a 25–9–7 finish, clinching the sixth playoff spot—the team’s first postseason since the 2004–05 lockout.

The Blues were swept by the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round. Murray was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award but lost to Claude Julien. On January 2, 2010, he was fired with a 17–17–4 record and replaced by Davis Payne.

Internationally, Murray coached Canada to gold medals at the IIHF World Championships in 1997, 2003, and 2007—the first coach to win three world titles. He also served as a consultant for the Swiss team at the 2010 Worlds. At the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, he was associate coach under Marc Crawford; Canada lost the bronze medal game to Finland. Murray earned a record six Spengler Cup titles as Canada’s head coach (1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1997), earning the nickname “Mister Spengler Cup.”

On July 25, 2011, Murray became head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos, replacing Jeff Blashill. Despite having no prior U.S. college coaching experience (though he had coached at Brandon University and turned down an offer from Rensselaer in 2006), he said at his introductory press conference that coaching college hockey was on his bucket list and that he loved the college atmosphere.