By: Jeff Playdon | Follow me on Twitter @PlaydonJeff
On November 1, Glen Murray will be celebrating his 49th birthday. Murray spent ten years with the Black and Gold (’91-’95, ’01-’08). A trade in the ’95 offseason found Murray playing for the Penguins and then the Kings for seven seasons. Then, during the ’01-’02 NHL season, Murray found his way back to playing for the Bruins, where he would have some of his best years. So in honor of Murray celebrating his 49th birthday, let’s take a look back at the offensive powerhouse’s career.
Drafted by the Bruins
With the 18th pick in the NHL Draft, the Boston Bruins selected Glen Murray. Murray would play three seasons in the OHL for the Sudbury Wolves before making his NHL debut during the ’91-’92 season. Although he only played five regular-season games in his rookie season, Murray would provide scoring depth during the playoffs scoring four goals in 15 playoff games. The young right-winger would play three more seasons for the Bruins before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. On August 2, 1995, the trade was made official when the Bruins traded away Glen Murray, Bryan Smolinski, and a 3rd round draft pick in 1996 for Shawn McEachern and Kevin Stevens. Glen Murray was now a Pittsburgh Penguin.
Finding his Footing in L.A
Glen Murray’s first season skating for Pittsburgh wasn’t too shabby, as in 69 games, he scored 14 goals to go along with 15 assists. However, Murray’s stats went down a bit following season as he would only score 11 goals and 11 assists. That’s when the Penguins decided to part ways with Murray and ship him to the Kings for Eddie Olczyk.
It was under the lights of L.A. when Glen Murray would finally find his footing and start showing his true potential. Murray scored 29 goals and 31 assists for 60 points in his first entire season playing for the Kings. He would play 212 more games for the Kings before being traded back to where it all started in Boston. His career for the Kings was solid, as he played 304 games, scored 103 goals, and assisted on 108 goals. On October 24, 2001, the Kings traded Murray and Jozef Stumpel to Boston for Jason Allison and Mikko Eloranta.
Back to the Black and Gold
As Murray was finding his footing in Los Angeles, he found himself amid another trade, this time coming back to where it all started. In his first season back with Boston, Murray had a productive season scoring 35 goals and 25 assists. From there, Murray would get better and better. In fact, after signing a two-year contract, Murray had the best season of his career in his next season. During the ’02-’03 season, Murray played all 82 games, scored 44 goals, and assisted on 48 goals for a career-high 92 points. Those numbers helped Murray make his first all-star team, was seventh in the league for points, and first in the league for even-strength goals scored. The very next season, the offensive powerhouse would make the all-star team once again with 32 goals scored and 28 assists. Murray also received nine votes for the Selke Trophy; however, the award went to Kris Draper from the Red Wings.
After the ’03-’04 season, Glen Murray’s stats were still decent, but age was catching up to him, so his numbers went down, and the injury bug lingered with Murray. During the ’04-’05 offseason, Boston signed Murray to a four-year, $16.6 million contract extension. In Murray’s next three seasons, despite getting injured off and on, he managed to still play 186 games, score 69 goals, and get 59 assists. In November 2009, Murray had ankle surgery, claiming it resulted from an injury he sustained during play of the ’08-’09 NHL season. As a result, his agent filed a claim against the Bruins. The Bruins ended up winning arbitration, and on July 23, 2009, Murray was placed on waivers by the Bruins. Three days later, on July 26, 2009, the Bruins announced the buyout of Murray’s contract to free up salary cap room. After that, Glen Murray decided to hang up the skates and retire from hockey.
Murray was nothing short of impressive on the offensive side of the puck. He played 16 seasons in the NHL, scored 651 points in 1,009 regular-season games, had 42 points in 94 playoff games, made the All-Star game in ’03 and ’04, and had the third-highest points scored for a Nova Scotia hockey player. So Glen Murray, on behalf of myself and the entire BNG organization, we wish you a Happy 49th Birthday!
Leave a Reply