Bryan Murray

Executive Vice-President, General Manager and Alternate Governor

Born Dec. 5, 1942 (Shawville, Que.)

Bryan Murray was named general manager of the Ottawa Senators on June 18, 2007. The sixth general manager in the Senators’ modern era, the 2012-13 campaign will mark his 31st consecutive in the NHL. On July 1, 2009, Murray was named executive vice-president of Senators Sports & Entertainment.

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

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

The 2012-13 season will be Murray’s 19th 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. He won the Jack Adams Award in 1983-84 as the NHL’s coach of the year.

In 17 years of coaching in the NHL, which also included seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and Florida Panthers, Murray ranks ninth in the league in all-time games coached (1,239) and is eighth 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 Edmonton.

A former student of Macdonald College at McGill University, Murray spent four years as the athletic director and coach at the school. He coached five years in the Central Junior Hockey League with Pembroke and Rockland before becoming head coach of the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. In 1979-80, he led the Pats to the WHL championship. Murray then took over as coach of the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears the following season and was named minor league coach of the year by The Hockey News after leading Hershey to its best record in 40 years.

On July 21, 2012, he was joined by his brother, Terry and his nephew, Tim, as an inaugural inductee in Shawville’s Hockey Wall of Fame.

Bryan and his wife, Geri, have two daughters: Heide and Brittany.