Bob Murdoch

Bob Murdoch
Date of birth	May 17, 1946
place of birth	Kirkland Lake , Ontario , Canada
size	183 cm
Weight	88 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Right
Career stations
1968-1969	Winnipeg Nationals
1969-1971	Montréal Voyageurs
1971-1973	Montréal Canadiens
1971-1972	Nova Scotia Voyageurs
1973-1978	Los Angeles Kings
1978-1980	Atlanta Flames
1980-1982	Calgary Flames

Robert John "Bob" Murdoch (born May 17, 1946 in Kirkland Lake , Ontario ) is a retired Canadian ice hockey player (defender) and coach who worked for the Montréal Canadiens , Los Angeles Kings and Atlanta Flames and Calgary Flames from 1970 to 1982 played in the National Hockey League .

Career

As a player

Before moving to professional life, he played for the Canadian national team at the 1969 Ice Hockey World Championship .

In March 1970 he signed as a free agent with the Montréal Canadiens . He initially played with the Montreal Voyageurs in the American Hockey League . After the end of the 1970/71 season he was given to the Minnesota North Stars to settle an earlier swap, but two weeks later he was brought back in the intra-league draft . It was only in the 1972/73 season that he managed to fight for a regular place. He was a defensive-minded defender and provided defensive security when the team won the Stanley Cup .

For the 1973/74 season , the Canadiens gave him to the Los Angeles Kings . For him, Montreal received a first-round draft right, with which they brought Mario Tremblay . With the Kings he became a fixture in defense and was also more successful on the offensive. In the middle of his sixth season in Los Angeles, he was given together with a second-round vote in the NHL Entry Draft in 1980 to the Atlanta Flames , who sent Richard Mulhern and a second-round vote of the same draft to Los Angeles. He and the team moved to Calgary in 1980. The Calgary Flames didn't just use him as a player. It was also used to train young defenders.

As a trainer

After ending his active career in 1982, he was assistant coach with the Flames under Bob Johnson for five years . When the general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks vacated the place behind the gang for the 1987/88 season , he brought Murdoch as his successor. After a year he moved to the Winnipeg Jets . He led the team to the playoffs and won the Jack Adams Award for best coach of the season . After another year with the Jets, he joined the San Jose Sharks as an assistant coach .

For the 1994/95 season , the reigning German champions, the Maddogs Munich , brought him to Germany. Despite the great sporting success he had with the team, games were stopped in Munich shortly before Christmas. During the season he was signed by the Kölner Haie , which he led to the championship title. He stayed in Cologne for another two years. For the 2000/01 season he returned to Germany and took over the Nürnberg Ice Tigers . He trained the team from Franconia for two years .

NHL statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Regular season	12	757	60	218	278	764
Playoffs	12	69	4th	18th	22nd	92

Sporting successes

• Stanley Cup : 1973
• German champion: 1995 (as trainer)

Personal awards

• Participation in the NHL All-Star Game : 1975
• Jack Adams Award : 1990

Web links

• Bob Murdoch at hockeydb.com (English)
• Bob Murdoch at legendsofhockey.net (English)