Big Leap for Kings’ New Coach

When Andy Murray missed out on the Mighty Ducks’ coaching job last summer, he decided his family needed more attention, so he spent a quality year with his wife and three children.

Still, he found time to coach Shattuck-St. Mary’s Prep to a 70-9-2 record. St. Mary’s is a high school in Faribault, Minn., which is 25 miles south of Minneapolis and a lot farther from the NHL.

Murray will close that gap today when he is named the 19th King coach, though late Sunday afternoon he said he hadn’t been informed that he had won the five-man derby for the job.

“I’m expecting a call,” he said. “But nothing has been finalized. There still is some discussion, and I’m not the kind of person who likes to get ahead of himself. But I have to say it looks pretty good.”

If it doesn’t come off, the Kings are going to look pretty bad because they have called a news conference for today to announce that they are hiring a prep school coach to take them into the new Staples Center.

But that is an oversimplification and more than a little misleading. The season at St. Mary’s was an anomaly for Murray, a kind of detour from the limelight.

“I had coached the [1997] Canadian national team, and we played 84 games in a season,” said Murray, who also was an assistant with Canada’s 1998 Nagano Olympics entry.

“We played one home game.”

Team Canada was good enough to win the gold medal at the ’97 World Championships with a roster that included King defenseman and captain Rob Blake.

“Actually, I’ve coached several of them,” Murray said, reeling off the names of the Kings’ Garry Galley, Ray Ferraro, Glen Murray, Dan Bylsma and Scott Barney.

“And I’ve formed relationships with a lot of NHL players over the years.”

Murray, who has interviewed for other jobs this off-season, including that of the New York Islanders, came into the Kings’ candidate mix two weeks ago, when he met Dave Taylor, the team’s senior vice president and general manager.

“He had a very impressive interview,” said a King management source. “He knows it will be a challenge, and we think he is the right fit for what we want. Dave felt the guy was the brightest, most-prepared candidate and that he was ready to step into an NHL job.”

The Kings are in a youth movement of sorts, having declared that their future will depend on the development of young players. To that end, after the season they told veterans Ferraro, Doug Bodger, Russ Courtnall and Dave Babych that their services might not be needed.

All will be free agents on July 1.

Taylor has sought a coach who has worked with veterans and young players--with coaching in Europe a plus.

Murray, 48, has coached at virtually every level from junior hockey to university hockey to the minor leagues to the NHL since playing at Brandon University in central Canada. He also spent eight seasons coaching in Europe and was an assistant with Winnipeg, Minnesota and Philadelphia before devoting time to national-team work.

“I’ve been fortunate because I’ve usually been successful,” he said. “I’ve been able to get from players what I expected from them.

“And I approached coaching a prep team at St. Mary’s the same way I will an NHL team or a national team. . . . I believed in a team with well-defined roles so that people know what’s expected of them. I think when people know that, they respond to it.”

Taylor has kept his own counsel since the coaching search began with the firing of Larry Robinson on April 19 after a playoff-missing 32-45-5 season of injury, underachievement, missed opportunity and occasional locker-room disgruntlement involving players who believed more might have been achieved with a different style of play and with benching nonperformers.

Through May and into June, five candidates were interviewed.

They were John Van Boxmeer, coach and general manager of the Ice Dogs; Dave King, an assistant with the Montreal Canadiens; Ted Nolan, former coach with the Buffalo Sabres; Dave Lewis, an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings; and Murray.

Van Boxmeer and Murray were the two finalists, and Van Boxmeer was told Saturday night he would not get the job.

In the interview with the Kings, and a follow-up talk last week, Murray told Taylor he was a demanding coach.

“I don’t believe in optional work or optional effort,” Murray said. “I believe in work, and I believe in accountability for the players. [Last season] should bother the players, and it’s one of the reasons I felt this is the right job. It’s a great opportunity because the Kings have solid ownership; a general manager who is intelligent and well-regarded in the NHL; and the new facilities are going to be outstanding.”

Murray brings with him a reputation. “He was just ahead of me at Minnesota, but I remember that a lot of the guys talked about him and liked him,” said Courtnall, a former North Star. “I think he worked with the power play, and if guys remember him like that, he must be all right.”

So the year of quality time with the family is over for Murray.

“I take a lot of pride in the fact that I was recognized to be the Canadian national team coach,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in becoming one of 28 coaches in the NHL.”

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Kings’ Coaches by the Numbers

* Franchise history: 32 seasons

* Coaching Changes: 21 (19 different coaches)

* Overall record: 983-1173-366

* Longest coaching stint: Bob Pulford, five seasons, 1972-1977

* Shortest coaching stint: Parker MacDonald, 42 games, 1981-82

* Most Wins/Season: Tom Webster, 46, 1990-91

* Most Points/Season: Bob Pulford, 105, 1974-75

* Most Losses/Season: 52, Hal Laycoe, Johnny Wilson, 1969-70

* Fewest Points/Season: 38, Hal Laycoe, Johnny Wilson, 1969-70