Andy Murray (ice hockey)

Andy Murray (born March 3, 1951 in Gladstone, Manitoba, Canada) is currently the head coach of the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League, and was the head coach for the Los Angeles Kings from 1999 to 2006.

Early life and career

Andy Murray's family had an auto dealership in Souris, Manitoba that was started by Murray's grandfather. Once Murray was old enough, he began to work there. In 1976, when Murray was 25 years old, his uncle hired him to be the coach of the Brandon Travelers after a brawl. Three years later, he got the head-coaching job at Brandon University in Manitoba while still working at the dealership during the day. In 1981, his father died the day after a victory that qualified Brandon for a National tournament. After that season, he needed to get away, and took a coaching job in Switzerland. [ St. Louis Blues Official Yearbook 2007, page 77] In 1988, he went to the United States to be the assistant coach for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. That year, the Bears won the AHL championship, and he was promoted as an assistant coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. He spent two years there before joining as an assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars, where he made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. In 1992, he went back to Switzerland to coach for Lugano. Two months later, he quit because of a fan revolt. After that, he took a job in Germany before returning to assistant coaching with the Winnipeg Jets, where he stayed until 1995. Murray was named the coach of the Canadian National Hockey Team in 1996, a post he held until 1998. He served as head coach at Shattuck-St. Mary's School for the 1998–99 season.

NHL head coach

On June 14 1999, Andy was named the new head coach of the Los Angeles Kings replacing Larry Robinson, where he stayed for seven seasons. On March 21, 2006, Andy Murray was fired by the Kings and was replaced on an interim basis by John Torchetti. He provided colour commentary for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during their "Hockey Night in Canada" telecasts of the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs.

On December 11, 2006, the Blues hired Murray to replace Mike Kitchen as head coach after a seven game losing streak. [ [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=188117&hubname= TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader ] ] He coached the Blues to a record of 33–36–13 in his first full season as coach in 2007–2008.

International tournaments

Andy coached Canada to the three gold medals at the IIHF World Championships in 1997, 2003 and 2007. He was the first coach to accomplish this feat.

Personal life

Andy and his wife, Ruth, have three children (all hockey players): two sons Brady and Jordan Murray, and a daughter, Sarah Murray. He is also a distant cousin to Los Angeles Kings center Marty Murray.

NHL coaching record

References

ee also

* List of NHL head coaches

Navboxes|list1=