Chris Lowrey
SHAWVILLE Aug. 12, 2017
Longtime Ottawa Senators General Manager and Shawville native Bryan Murray passed away on Aug. 12 after an extended battle with colon cancer. Murray was 74.
After being diagnosed in June of 2014, Murray made it his priority to spread awareness about the dangers of men neglecting to get a colonoscopy.
“Like a lot of men do, I put it off,” Murray said at the time. “A simple colonoscopy, in my case, probably would have saved my life.”
Many people reached out on social media to share their stories about how Murray’s message prompted them to undergo a colonoscopy, which led to an early cancer diagnosis and gave them a better chance at survival.

With more than three decades of NHL experience under his belt, Murray affected many lives during that time. The outpouring of condolences for his family was evidence of that.
“Bryan Murray’s strength and character were reflected in the teams he coached and the teams he built over decades of front office excellence,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
“Bryan was one of the greatest men that the game of hockey has ever known and also a great father, mentor and teacher,” Senators Owner Eugene Melnyk said in a statement.
“Bryan Murray was a wise hockey man and a great teacher,” tweeted Sports Illustrated hockey columnist Michael Farber. “We, and hockey, are poorer for his passing.”
“My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Murray family,” tweeted Senators captain Erik Karlsson. “Thank you for everything Bryan. You gave me the chance to be who I am today.”
After playing junior hockey for his hometown team in Shawville, he was a student at Macdonald College at McGill University in Montreal and spent four years as the school’s athletic director.
Murray decided to move on from McGill and came home to Shawville where he took a job as a high school physical education teacher.
After coaching stints in the junior ranks in the Ottawa area, Murray was chosen to take over coaching duties for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League where he took the team to the Memorial Cup.
The next year, in the 1980-81 season, the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League came knocking. After a short stint with the Bears, Murray was promoted to the head coaching job of the team’s parent club, the Washington Capitals.
The Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame inductee coached the Capitals to seven playoff appearances in eight-plus seasons behind the bench, winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in the 1983-84 season.
After being fired by Washington in the 1989-90 season, Murray took over both the coach and general manager position with the Detroit Red Wings.
Murray served in Detroit until the 1994 season, when he joined the expansion Florida Panthers whom he helped take to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996. That same year, Murray won the NHL’s Executive of the Year award for his efforts.
Murray’s next stop, where many people say he did his finest work, was with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks as head coach in the 2001-02 season, and the general manager from 2002-2004.
It was during this time that Murray’s shrewdness as a talent evaluator was on display. During the 2003 draft Murray selected the team’s future captain Ryan Getzlaf with the 19th overall pick. He then traded up to take Rocket Richard Trophy winner Corey Perry with the 28th overall pick.
The two players are still with the Mighty Ducks organization and have been a huge part of the team’s success over the last decade.
After the 2003-04 season, Murray resigned his post with the Mighty Ducks and came home to the Ottawa Valley when he took the head coaching job of the Ottawa Senators.
During the 2007 season with Ottawa, Murray coached the team to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in the organization’s modern history.
Murray took over the GM job in Ottawa prior to the 2008 season and went on to draft an undersized Swedish defenseman and current franchise cornerstone Erik Karlsson.
Murray stepped down as the Senators’ GM in 2016, but stayed on as an advisor to his replacement Pierre Dorion.
In January, Murray was the first inductee into the Ottawa Senators’ Ring of Honour, a hall of fame of sorts for the most important contributors to the organization.
“It means a lot,” Murray said at the time. “I’ve been in the league for 35 years and being in Ottawa, and a somewhat local guy, it means a lot.”
Murray, a Shawville boy through-and-through, never forgot his roots.
“To be closer to Alfie, and another Shawville man, the late Frank Finnigan, is a real honour,” he said during his Ring of Honour induction speech.
Murray was always known for his ability to get the most out of his players when he was behind the bench.
Longtime Senators’ tough guy Chris Neil recounted a story about being the target of Murray’s criticisms during practise, only to finish out the session on the power play unit.
“That’s just the type of guy he was,” Neil said at the time of the Ring of Honour induction ceremony. “He had a way to elevate guys and make them play hard.”
The Ottawa Senators will be hosting a celebration of Murray’s life on Aug. 24 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa at 1 p.m. There will also be a remembrance service for friends and family at the Shawville United Church on Aug. 22 at 1 p.m.
Murray is survived by his wife Geri and their two daughters Heide and Brittany.