OTTAWA - Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk today announced the team has extended the contract of general manager Bryan Murray for three years. Murray joined the Senators in June 2004 and spent three years as the team's head coach before being named general manager on June 18, 2007. Murray, who is the franchise’s sixth general manager, was appointed executive vice-president of Senators Sports & Entertainment on July 1, 2009.

Audio from news conference: http://senators.nhl.com/v2/ext/Audio/110408_Newser.mp3

Now in his 30th consecutive NHL season, Murray was hired as the fifth head coach in Senators history on June 8, 2004. In two-plus seasons at the helm, Murray compiled a 107-55-20 record. In 2007, he led Ottawa to its first appearance in a Stanley Cup final series, losing in five games to the Anaheim Ducks. Murray returned to the head-coaching role with Ottawa on Feb. 27, 2008, relieving John Paddock, and posted a 7-9-2 record over the final 18 games of the 2007-08 regular season.

A native of Shawville, Que., Murray came to the Senators from Anaheim, where he served as senior vice-president and general manager with the Ducks. He was promoted to the posts in May of 2002 and went on to transform the Ducks into the Western Conference champion in 2002-03. Named the Ducks’ fifth head coach in 2001-02, he spent one season behind the Anaheim bench.

The 2011-12 season will be Murray’s 17th as a general manager, after serving four years with the Detroit Red Wings from 1990 to 1994, six-plus seasons with the Florida Panthers from 1994 to 2000 and two seasons with Anaheim from 2002 to 2004.

Murray began his NHL coaching career with the Washington Capitals on Nov. 11, 1981. He remained at the helm of the Capitals for the next 8 ½ seasons. Beginning with his first full season behind the Washington bench, the club had winning records and averaged 95 points per season over the next seven years. Murray won the Jack Adams Award in 1983-84 as the NHL’s coach of the year.

His 17 years of coaching in the NHL, which also included seasons with Detroit and Florida, see Murray ranked ninth in the NHL in all-time games coached (1,239) and sixth in wins (620). He coached his 1,000th NHL game with Anaheim on Nov. 28, 2001, and earned his 600th victory on Feb. 20, 2007, in a 4-3 Senators win over the Edmonton Oilers.