Larry Murphy (ice hockey)

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Position Defence
Shot Right
Nickname(s) Murph
Lare
Stationary Larry
Double Nickle
Height
Weight		 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
210 lb (95 kg/14 st 0 lb)
Pro clubs Los Angeles Kings
Washington Capitals
Minnesota North Stars
Pittsburgh Penguins
Toronto Maple Leafs
Detroit Red Wings
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born March 8, 1961 (1961-03-08) (age 47),
Scarborough, ON, CAN
NHL Draft 4th overall, 1980
Los Angeles Kings
Pro career 1980 – 2001
Hall of Fame, 2004

Lawrence Thomas Murphy (born March 8, 1961 in Scarborough, Ontario) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Larry Murphy was drafted 4th overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He was the first selection that year of the Los Angeles Kings. In the 1980–81 NHL season, he set National Hockey League records for most assists and points by a rookie defenceman, with 60 and 76 respectively. He was eventually traded to the Washington Capitals for defencemen Brian Engblom and Ken Houston early in the 1983-84 season, which did not work out in the Kings favor long-term due to Murphy's prolonged success in the league.

In his 21-season career (1980–2001), Murphy would eventually play for six different NHL teams. In addition to the Kings and Capitals, he also suited up for the Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Detroit Red Wings.

In 1995 after being named to the second-team All-Stars Murphy was traded to his hometown Leafs from the Penguins for Dmitri Mironov and a second round pick. Leafs fans booed Murphy, the highest paid player on the Leafs, mercilessly as a scapegoat for the lack of success the team was having. He was traded to Detroit for future considerations, and was an integral part of their two consecutive Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998. In the 1997–98 NHL Playoffs, he tied Paul Coffey's record for most shorthanded goals scored by a defenceman in the playoffs with 2.

When Murphy retired after the 2000–01 NHL season, his 1615 regular season games played stood as a record for the most career games by a defenceman; a mark previously held by defenceman Tim Horton. In 2003–04, Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils surpassed this mark, finishing the season with 1635 games played.

He was on four Stanley Cup winning teams during the decade of the 1990s, the only NHL player to accomplish this feat. He was a part of the only 2 NHL teams to win back-to-back titles during the decade, the Penguins in 1991 and 1992 and the Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.

In addition to his NHL championships, Murphy also won a Memorial Cup championship, the symbol of Canadian major junior hockey supremacy, with the Peterborough Petes in 1979. The Petes also reached the championship game the following year, but lost in overtime.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004. Finishing his career with 1216 points, Murphy is currently the fifth highest scoring defenceman in NHL history, behind Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis and Phil Housley.[1]

One of Murphy's most notable successes was the "Murphy Dump". During his stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins Murphy would often dump the puck down the ice by lifting it high over the opposing team and having the puck drop before the opposing goal line. This would not only clear the zone safely, but would not result in an icing call. The "Murphy Dump" was officially coined by Penguins color commentator Mike Lange.

[edit] Broadcasting

Larry Murphy is currently an alternate color analyst for the Detroit Red Wings on FSN Detroit. He only does color commentator duties for Red Wings west coast road trips in place of Mickey Redmond, from 2003-2006 Murphy shared this duty with former teammate Pat Verbeek where they would alternate road trips. However following the 2005–06 NHL season, Verbeek left the job as broadcaster to become a scout for the Red Wings and Murphy took over full time on west coast road trips. In addition in 2006, Murphy contributes as a studio analyst on pregames, post games and intermissions in which he does not broadcast. He also made occasional appearances on the NHL Network's nightly hockey highlight show, NHL On the Fly: Final, during the 2006–07 season.

[edit] Awards and achievements

[edit] Career statistics

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1978–79 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 66 6 21 27 82 19 1 9 10 42
1979–80 Peterborough Petes OMJHL 68 21 68 89 88 14 4 13 17 20
1980–81 Los Angeles Kings NHL 80 16 60 76 79 4 3 0 3 2
1981–82 Los Angeles Kings NHL 79 22 44 66 95 10 2 8 10 12
1982–83 Los Angeles Kings NHL 77 14 48 62 81
1983–84 Los Angeles Kings NHL 6 0 3 3 0
1983–84 Washington Capitals NHL 72 13 33 46 50 8 0 3 3 6
1984–85 Washington Capitals NHL 79 13 42 55 51 5 2 3 5 0
1985–86 Washington Capitals NHL 78 21 44 65 50 9 1 5 6 6
1986–87 Washington Capitals NHL 80 23 58 81 39 7 2 2 4 6
1987–88 Washington Capitals NHL 79 8 53 61 72 13 4 4 8 33
1988–89 Washington Capitals NHL 65 7 29 36 70
1988–89 Minnesota North Stars NHL 13 4 6 10 12 5 0 2 2 8
1989–90 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 10 58 68 44 7 1 2 3 31
1990–91 Minnesota North Stars NHL 31 4 11 15 38
1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 44 5 23 28 30 23 5 18 23 44
1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 77 21 56 77 48 21 6 10 16 19
1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 83 22 63 85 73 12 2 11 13 10
1993–94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84 17 56 73 44 6 0 5 5 0
1994–95 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 48 13 25 38 18 12 2 13 15 0
1995–96 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 82 12 49 61 34 6 0 2 2 4
1996–97 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 69 7 32 39 20
1996–97 Detroit Red Wings NHL 12 2 4 6 0 20 2 9 11 8
1997–98 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 11 41 52 37 22 3 12 15 2
1998–99 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 10 42 52 42 10 0 2 2 8
1999–00 Detroit Red Wings NHL 81 10 30 40 45 9 2 3 5 2
2000–01 Detroit Red Wings NHL 57 2 19 21 12 6 0 1 1 0
OMJHL Totals 134 27 89 116 170 33 5 22 27 62
NHL Totals 1615 287 929 1216 1084 215 37 115 152 201

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1] Murphy at Legends of Hockey/HHOF.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Los Angeles Kings first-round draft picks
Pagnutti • McInally • Young • Wells • Murphy • Fox • Smith • Redmond • Duncanson • Gratton • Carson • McBean • Gelinas • Sydor • Storr • Berg • Jokinen • Zultek • Biron • Frolov • Karlsson • Steckel • Grebeshkov • Brown • Boyle • Tambellini • Tukonen • Kopitar • Bernier • Lewis • Hickey