Sudbury goalie coach Scott Murray and the Washington Capitals have climbed to the top of the mountain, hoisting the Stanley Cup as NHL champions in June of 2018.
The team also enters the 2023-2024 season having missed the playoffs last year with a record of 35-37-6-4, the first time since the 2013-2014 campaign that the Caps were not among the final sixteen, contesting post-season play.
With just under a month remaining under the start of a new season and players only a few days into official training camps, Murray is trying to appreciate the calm before the storm.
“Everything is kind of roses right now,” said the 45 year-old native of St Clements (ON) who is beginning his seventh season in his role in Washington. “We haven’t had any games and adversity hasn’t hit.”
“The one thing about development camp and training camp is that it’s a fresh start. Just getting a chance to be around the guys in a situation where we don’t have to play the Pittsburgh Penguins that night or that we’re not coming off a tough loss is nice. You get a chance to show some personality at a time when emotions are not running super high.”
By nature, Scott Murray is about as even-keel as they come – an outstanding attribute in his line of work. Despite rising to the highest level of the game, Murray remains every bit as grounded as he was when we first met during the 2005-2006 season in which he had offered his services to help the Copper Cliff Redmen Minor Midgets.
After spending the 2004-2005 season still donning his goalie equipment, with stops split between the Motor City Mechanics (United Hockey League), the San Angelo Saints (Central Hockey League) and the Cambridge Hornets, an OHA Senior men’s team, Murray decided that his efforts might be better directed towards coaching, a realization that would soon see him call Sudbury home.
His wife (Renée) and children (Ella, Liv and Tylar) all having roots in the Nickel City, Murray continues to make his way to the north, spending some time working a goaltending camp at the Northern Hockey Academy this summer and remaining every bit as true to the person he is as ever.
“It was fun to be back in that setting, a school-type setting where you get a chance to be on the ice with other goalie coaches,” said Murray. “I think you can learn from anybody. You can learn from goaltenders, you can learn from other coaches, you can learn from just being around the game.”
“I think it’s great to step on the ice with other guys who are obviously interested in the same things you are.”
For as much as working with 2022 Stanley Cup winning goaltender Darcy Kuemper held a great deal of appeal, so too does working with those who only dream of reaching those heights someday.
“Some of the foundational basics are the same for the NHL goalie as the kid at the peewee level,” said Murray. “Getting a chance to see some of the stuff that is happening in the game, stuff that is coming down the pipes with these young guys and young coaches is a good thing.”
“Their passion for the game is always fun to be around.”
The 2022-2023 season was a different one in many ways for Murray. Gone were the tandem of Ilya Samsonov (2018-2022 in Capitals’ organization) and Vitek Vanecek (2015-2022). The net in Washington was turned over to Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren.
“A lot of the young guys in net over the last while, since I have been there, have grown up in our organization,” said Murray. “Having two (new) guys has allowed me to learn from things that they have done, things that have worked for them. It’s also about learning to navigate being a new voice for them, understanding what makes them tick.”
“It wasn’t perfect – but it was a good learning experience.”
And so they move on.
Perhaps more than any other position in the game, assessing goaltending performances without being skewed by the team results is challenging. Murray has learned to live with the balancing act, appreciating all that he has garnered from the game.
“That’s something that we navigate as coaches all the time,” he said. “Obviously, this is a results-based business and our job is to win hockey games. But looking deeper at some of the patterns that offer you success over a longer period of time is important.”
“I think with goaltending, if you’re doing the right things, if your habits are in a good spot, you will normally put yourself in a position to do the job for the team, making the saves that are needed and maybe some that aren’t expected.”
It’s a process that is every bit as critical in winning seasons as in those years when the end result does not necessarily match the pre-season goals.
“I think every experience is valuable,” said Murray.
And at this time of year in particular, every experience can be appreciated.
