BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – With Kris Knoblauch hired as the Head Coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, he now has a very familiar bench partner to work with.
Gord Murphy, who was let go along with Knoblauch by the Philadelphia Flyers after being there for two seasons, today was named Associate Head Coach of the Wolf Pack on Friday.
Murphy, 52, has spent parts of the last 16 seasons as an NHL Assistant Coach (2002-19). Most recently, he served parts of five seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Philadelphia Flyers (2014-15–2019)
In an odd coincidence, Murphy ends up heading to Hartford after replacing former Wolf Pack head coach, John Paddock, in Philly back in 2014.
Murphy has also served as an Assistant Coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2002-03–2010) and Florida Panthers (2010-11–2014) in his coaching career. In addition, he was a member of Canada’s coaching staff at the 2014 IIHF U-18 World Championship, and he helped Canada earn a bronze medal in the tournament.
In his 14-year NHL playing career, (1988-89–2002), Murphy suited up with the Flyers, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Atlanta Thrashers. The defenseman skated in 862 career NHL games, registering 85 goals and 238 assists for 323 points, along with 668 penalty minutes. During his NHL career, the Willowdale, Ontario native was a member of an expansion team twice in his career (Florida –1993-94; Atlanta – 1999-00), and he helped the Panthers advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1995-96.
Murphy won a Calder Cup with Hershey 1987-88 and played in a Memorial Cup tournament with the Oshawa Generals making the All-Tournament team. His son Connor, was an NHL first-round draft pick by the Arizona (nee Phoenix) Coyotes. He’s currently skating with the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Rangers solve three issues with one move in the Murphy hire. They addressed the experienced coaching issue on the bench, get a coach with NHL experience in the room, and a defenseman coaching to work with the Rangers well regarded defensive prospects Libor Hajak, Ryan Lindgren, Finn Tarmo Reunanen, and possibly Adam Fox should he start the season in Hart City.
We can confirm several other candidates who were interviewed for the positions prior to the announcements this week.
One of the two coaches who was interviewed twice, but turned the job down was Steve Spott, 51, who was a San Jose assistant coach the last four seasons. He was a coach with the Toronto Marlies in 2013-14.
In addition, another former NHL assistant coach that’s looking for work made several inquiries and did not receive a return to his calls by the Rangers. The coach requested we not use his name, but confirmed his interest and his attempts to gain an interview.
