Ducks Finally Find the Man to Lead Them

Bryan Murray watched the Mighty Ducks play a late-season game against Toronto and came away with an impression of a team with potential.

If that’s true, that potential now rests in his hands.

Murray was hired as the Ducks’ coach Friday, taking over a team that scraped bottom last season, finishing last in the Western Conference. He signed a multi-year deal, terms of which were not released.

“At this point in the franchise’s history, he is exactly what we need,” General Manager Pierre Gauthier said. “He represents the stability we have talked about.”

The franchise has had a volatile coaching situation since Ron Wilson was fired after guiding the Ducks to the playoffs in the 1996-97 season. Murray will be the team’s fifth coach in nine seasons.

Murray, who ranks seventh among NHL coaches with 484 victories, spent the last seven-plus seasons as the Florida Panthers’ general manager. He has 13 years of coaching experience. Since 1992-93, he has been in the front office except for a 59-game stint as the Panthers’ interim coach in 1997-98.

Yet Murray wanted to return to the bench, where he had success with the Washington Capitals (1981-90) and Detroit Red Wings (‘90-93).

In both cases, he took over young teams and got them to the Stanley Cup playoffs immediately. The Ducks have made the playoffs only twice in eight seasons.

“When I saw this team play late in the season, I thought there was a lot of potential,” Murray said. “We are going to have to do a lot of pushing and a lot confidence building to make that happen. But we will compete on a nightly basis and we’ll see what happens after that.”

Murray is familiar with the Ducks’ situation last season--poor play, injuries, dwindling attendance. He went through the same things in Florida.

The Panthers were a playoff team in 1999-2000, but fell to 12th in the Eastern Conference last season. Murray was fired Dec. 28, after the Panthers won only six of their first 36 games. He said he would not seek any more input with the Ducks beyond that of any other NHL coach.

“I kind of got trapped into being a general manager,” said Murray, who was also the Red Wings’ general manager from 1990-94. “The coaching part was what always excited me.

“I found out that a general manager has to keep everybody happy. As a coach, you’re supposed to keep 20 players happy. But you don’t really. All you have to do is win.”

Which is something previous Duck coaches have been unable to do consistently. The team has had only two winning seasons.

Gauthier pronounced last off-season the summer of solutions, after the Ducks barely missed the playoffs in 1999-2000. It turned out to be more like a summer of delusions. With the exception of goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, none of the players brought in during the off-season produced.

Coach Craig Hartsburg was fired Dec. 14 with the team wallowing at 11-15-4-3. Assistant coach Guy Charron replaced him and tried to hold together an injury-riddled team. The Ducks were 25-41-11-5 and finished behind expansion teams Minnesota and Columbus in the conference.

The Ducks sold 553,990 tickets, a franchise low for a non-lockout season.

Still, the team has several talented young players and 26-year-old Paul Kariya, one of the NHL’s stars. Yet their development has been slow to this point.

“It was necessary for the team to get an experienced coach, who has proven himself to be a winner,” Kariya said. “Bryan made the playoffs almost every year he has coached, and that’s what we want to get back to.”

Gauthier was on the same page. This was the first time he has been involved in the process of hiring a coach from start to finish. When he was hired as president and general manager in 1998, the Ducks had already begun a coach search, which ended with the hiring of Hartsburg.

Murray, who told Gauthier that he was interested in returning to coaching in January, was put on the Ducks’ short list after the season ended.

“You always end up with two or three guys,” Gauthier said. “When someone like Bryan is available, you end up comparing the other candidates to him.

“We got two major challenges. One is to keep growing with the young, core players we have. So we needed a guy who is able to develop young players. At the same time, we have short-term goals, No. 1 being to make the playoffs.”

Murray said he has not decided who will be his assistant coaches. He was to meet with Charron Friday night and will talk with Terry Simpson, the team’s other assistant last season. Murray will also meet with Kariya, the Ducks’ captain, today.

“I think I’m at a time in my career, I want some challenges and I want some fun,” Murray said. “Being a coach is what I want to be at this point.”

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