Murray Back in Hospital

An exact date for Andy Murray’s return to the Kings was in doubt Friday when the coach suffered another setback in his recovery from last week’s single-vehicle accident in Wisconsin.

Murray, scheduled to fly into Los Angeles late Friday night to rejoin the Kings for practice this morning in El Segundo, instead spent the night in a hospital near his home in Faribault, Minn., after experiencing severe headaches and vomiting for the second time in three days, his wife said.

Ruth Murray planned to have an ambulance take her husband into Minneapolis, about a 60-minute drive from Faribault, to see a neurologist today.

“He’s got to realize it was only a week ago that he was in the accident,” she said, “but he’s getting frustrated that he’s not getting any better, and he probably should be getting a little better. But now he’s getting worse.”

Murray, 50, suffered a concussion, four broken ribs, a separated left shoulder and numerous cuts and scrapes on the morning of Feb. 15 when the pickup truck he was driving skidded off icy Interstate 90 outside Sparta, Wis.

His wife said that the coach will undergo an MRI test on his brain today in order to better evaluate the concussion. CT scans revealed no bleeding, she said.

She said that she spoke Friday night with King General Manager Dave Taylor, who told her, “Just tell Andy to take as much time as he needs.”

The Kings, battling for a playoff spot in the competitive Western Conference, resume their season Tuesday night at Columbus, Ohio.

“At this point,” Taylor said from Salt Lake City, where he is attending the Winter Olympics, “we’re optimistic that Andy will be ready for the game on Tuesday. And if not, we’ll have to make some other plans.

“I think we have to wait to see what the neurologist says.”

For the time being, assistant coaches Dave Tippett, Mark Hardy and Ray Bennett will continue running practice in Murray’s absence, Taylor said.

Murray was en route from Faribault to Madison, Wis., to watch his 17-year-old son, Braden, play in a high school hockey tournament when he lost control of the truck.

The vehicle was demolished after crashing through a wire fence and rolling several times down an embankment through a wooded area.

After a tree stopped the truck, its wheels up, only a few feet from the edge of a trout stream, Murray kicked out a window and crawled out of the wreckage.

By Tuesday, he felt better and was eager to return to work. He was booked on a Wednesday flight to Los Angeles. But after experiencing headaches and vomiting overnight, symptoms of post-concussion syndrome, he was advised by his doctors to rest for 48 hours.

On Friday, his symptoms returned. His wife said he was so dizzy that he couldn’t move his head from side to side. “He just said, ‘I’ve got to get [checked] again because I’m not getting any better.’”

Said Taylor: “Obviously, he took quite a jolt in the accident. He was pretty optimistic the day after, but a lot of times, particularly with a head injury, symptoms come on a day or two later. That’s what he’s experienced here.

“We just want him to rest at this point and get feeling better.”