Bryan Murray continues to oversee Ottawa Senators while battling cancer

It began with a cough, nothing unusual for a man who spends a lot of time in hockey rinks and cold climates. And when he felt soreness in his right shoulder, Ottawa Senators General Manager Bryan Murray found a logical explanation for that too.

“I used to be a baseball pitcher way back and I said, ‘That’s an old injury that’s come back to haunt me,’” he said. “They went in and found it.”

What doctors found was Stage 4 cancer that had originated in his colon and spread to his liver and lung. There was no cure, he was told that day a year and a half ago.

The fight continues for Murray, who coached the Ducks in 2001-02, was their general manager when they lost the Stanley Cup Final in 2003 and built the Ducks team that beat his Senators to win the Cup in 2007. He often travels with the team but won’t go this week to Washington — another of his NHL stops — because he’s starting more chemotherapy Tuesday. Murray, 73, is often fatigued but is still feisty and very much in charge of the Senators, who are jostling for a playoff spot in the East.

“I’m doing OK,” he said Monday while watching the morning skate. “I just came from the hospital now, where I was hooked up for bloodwork, for chemo. It’s a pain in a different sort of way. It’s obviously something you never plan for in your life. My eyes water, my nose is dripping all the time and my mouth is dry a lot.

“Being around the young people, being mentally involved, it helps, I think. My family has been great, my wife has been great, but I think they understand that I like doing this.”

His love for the game keeps him going. Players can see it.

“You can still sit down and have a conversation with him like nothing’s going on in his life,” goaltender Craig Anderson said. “He really doesn’t show or act like there’s anything wrong with him and that’s great. It’s very positive for him to be around. It’s an inspiration for us to know that he’s in a bigger fight than we are, and he’s doing pretty well with it.”

Murray has taken on the role of advocating for adults to have a colonoscopy. He didn’t until after he was diagnosed. “My wife would go regularly, but being a man....I regret it now,” he said. “But I think it’s influenced a number of people in the hockey world. I get letters and emails, some from women who say, ‘My husband finally got a colonoscopy and they found something and thank you so much.’”

Murray’s contract calls for him to segue into a consultant role next season but he’s unsure what he will do. Owner Eugene Melnyk told him he can keep his current job as long as he wants, but he doesn’t want to make compromises because of his health.

“The time will come,” Murray said. “I stay in touch with my doctor too. I just want to make sure it’s not affecting something I should be doing other than what I’m doing.”

Penguins’ change inevitable

Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford thought about firing Mike Johnston in mid-November but waited until last Saturday to replace Johnston with Mike Sullivan, who had been coaching Pittsburgh’s top minor-league team.

Rutherford took some blame for his team’s struggles, saying he didn’t get a puck-moving defenseman who could have been an offensive catalyst, but he cited inconsistency and a lack of scoring as reasons for his move. The Penguins were 15-10-3 and out of a playoff spot when Johnston was fired; Sidney Crosby has six goals and 19 points in 28 games, and their power play has been feeble.

Hmm, an underachieving, inconsistent team that’s not scoring? Sounds like the Ducks, who have kept Coach Bruce Boudreau while falling to last place in the Western Conference. If the Penguins get a jolt from their coaching change will Ducks GM Bob Murray follow suit?

Murray has been patient — and the Ducks are a few points out of third place in the weak Pacific Division — but they haven’t provided much persuasive proof that they can make up ground. A four-game trip that starts Thursday in Buffalo looms large for Boudreau and their hopes of turning the corner.

R.I.P. Glen Sonmor

Glen Sonmor, who had a successful career coaching the Minnesota North Stars after losing his left eye during his playing days, died Monday at 86. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported his death but no cause was given.

Sonmor led the North Stars to their only Stanley Cup Final appearance, in 1981. One of hockey’s great characters, he was a lively storyteller and a popular radio commentator on University of Minnesota games after coaching the Golden Gophers.

Kings Coach Darryl Sutter remembered Sonmor fondly. Sutter was playing for the rival Chicago Blackhawks when he suffered an eye injury that put him in a Minnesota hospital, where Sonmor visited him regularly. “The first day I was lying there with both eyes covered,” Sutter said, “and I hear a knock on the door and a voice saying, ‘I’m not sure you want to see someone with one eye.’”

Slap shots

Former Kings center Jarret Stoll was placed on waivers by the New York Rangers, who signed him as a free agent last summer. He was a healthy scratch in their previous game…. The New York Islanders’ 8-0-2 surge has lifted them past the slumping Rangers (2-6-2) and into second in the Metropolitan Division….The Washington Capitals have yet to lose two games in a row. Much of the credit goes to goaltender Braden Holtby, who is 10-0-1 in his last 11 starts.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen