PHOTO CREDITS: (benchedathletes.wordpress.com)
By: Max Mainville | Check me out on Twitter @tkdmaxbjj
Happy Birthday To The Late Former Boston Bruins Forward Ron Murphy!!
Ron Murphy was born on April 10th, 1933 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Murphy started his hockey career in 1949-50 with the Guelph Biltmores of the OHA-Jr. In only three full seasons with Guelph, Murphy put up an incredible 141 goals and 144 assists for 285 points in only 151 games played. The left-winger helped lead his team to the 1952 Memorial Cup Championship, defeating the Regina Pats in four straight games. During the Memorial Cup run, Murphy scored 13 goals in 12 games, proving his talent at an early age.
In 1952-53, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Canadian agreed to a 15-game tryout with the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League. He scored 3 goals and 1 assist during that tryout, but in December of 1953, Murphy suffered a broken jaw and a concussion after he was hit by a stick from Montreal Canadiens Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, creating a full brawl. In 1953-54, Murphy put up 1-3-4 numbers in 27 games played with the Rangers. Following this, he played in three more seasons with New York, before being traded to the Chicago Black Hawks in 1957.
The majority of Murphy’s career came in Chicago as he played in 459 regular-season games for the Black Hawks, accumulating 105-127-232 numbers in that span. Murphy was apart of the 1961 Stanley Cup-winning Black Hawks – the same year he made it to his only NHL All-Star game.
In June of 1964, Ron Murphy was once again on the move, this time to the Detroit Red Wings in a large package deal that saw a total of five players moving teams. He only played 90 games with the Wings, scoring 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 points prior to being traded once again to the Boston Bruins in 1966. This trade to Boston meant that Murphy had played for each of the four American teams that were apart of the Original Six.
It was with the Bruins that Murphy would eventually end his career, not before playing in 133 games, scoring 29-61-90 totals. His best season with the organization came as a 35-year-old in 1968-69 when he put up 26-38-54 numbers in 60 games as well as another eight points in ten playoff games before being eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the semifinals.
Murphy retired from professional hockey in March of 1970, the year Boston went on to win the Stanley Cup. Even though he did not play for the team during the postseason, his name is still engraved on Lord Stanley, making him a two-time Stanley Cup Champion. Ron Murphy finished his career in the National Hockey League with 205-274-479 numbers in 889 regular-season contests. Ron Murphy passed away on March 6th, 2014 at the age of 80. Happy Birthday to the late Ron Murphy!
Note: Big thank you to Benched Athletes for their article on Ron Murphy. That article can be found HERE.
Leave a Reply