Don Murdoch
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
<templatestyles src="Module:Infobox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
| Don Murdoch | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | October 25, 1956 Cranbrook, BC, CAN |
||
| Height | 6 ft 02 in (188 cm) | ||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb) | ||
| Position | Right Wing | ||
| Shot | Right | ||
| Played for | New York Rangers Edmonton Oilers Detroit Red Wings |
||
| NHL Draft | 6th overall, 1976 New York Rangers |
||
| WHA Draft | 12th overall, 1976 Cincinnati Stingers |
||
| Playing career | 1976–1986 | ||
Donald Walter Murdoch (born October 25, 1956 in Cranbrook, British Columbia) is a Canadian retired former professional ice hockey player. After a standout junior career with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Murdoch made the New York Rangers as a 20-year-old and had an impressive rookie season, scoring 56 points in 59 games his rookie season, including a Rangers rookie record of 32 goals.[1] On October 12, 1976, Murdoch tied Howie Meeker's record for most goals in one game by a rookie with 5,[1] against the Minnesota North Stars.[2] A torn Achilles tendon ended his season in February.
In the offseason in 1977 after his first season, Murdoch was caught by customs agents in Toronto with 4.5 grams of cocaine stashed in his socks. He was suspended by the league for the entire 1978-79 season (later reduced to 40 games) and later admitted to having a drinking and drug problem.[3][4]
As a New York Ranger in the 1980-1981 season, he would set a club record for most single-season game-winning goals in a season (9), which would later be tied by Mark Messier (1996–97) and Jaromír Jágr (2005-06).
He played 320 career games in the National Hockey League (NHL) but never regained the form of his first season, and retired after stops with the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings.
After his playing career, Murdoch worked as a scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning, under general manager Phil Esposito.
He is a distant cousin of former Ranger Murray Murdoch.[5]
Legacy
In the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009) by Russ Cohen, John Halligan and Adam Raider, the authors ranked Murdoch No. 99 on the all-time list of New York Rangers.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1974–75 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WCHL | 70 | 82 | 59 | 141 | 83 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 15 | ||
| 1975–76 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WCHL | 70 | 88 | 77 | 165 | 202 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 23 | ||
| 1976–77 | New York Rangers | NHL | 59 | 32 | 24 | 56 | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | New York Rangers | NHL | 66 | 27 | 28 | 55 | 41 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 1978–79 | New York Rangers | NHL | 40 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 6 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 12 | ||
| 1979–80 | New York Rangers | NHL | 56 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 10 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1980–81 | Wichita Wind | CHL | 22 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 48 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 24 | ||
| 1980–81 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 40 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981–82 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 24 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 24 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 14 | ||
| 1981–82 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 49 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 35 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | Montana Magic | CHL | 17 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | Adirondack Red Wings | AHL | 59 | 26 | 20 | 46 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984–85 | Muskegon Lumberjacks | IHL | 32 | 18 | 13 | 31 | 4 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 26 | ||
| 1985–86 | Muskegon Lumberjacks | IHL | 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Indianapolis Checkers | IHL | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Toledo Goaldiggers | IHL | 37 | 15 | 23 | 38 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 320 | 121 | 116 | 237 | 155 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 16 | ||||
See also
External links
- Don Murdoch's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
- Don Murdoch's biography at Legends of Hockey
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Murdoch's biography at Hockey Draft Central
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
| Preceded by | New York Rangers first round draft pick 1976 |
Succeeded by Lucien DeBlois |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This biographical article relating to a Canadian ice hockey player is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1956 births
- Living people
- Adirondack Red Wings players
- Canadian sportspeople in doping cases
- Cincinnati Stingers draft picks
- Detroit Red Wings players
- Doping cases in ice hockey
- Edmonton Oilers players
- Ice hockey people from British Columbia
- Indianapolis Checkers players
- Medicine Hat Tigers players
- Montana Magic players
- Muskegon Lumberjacks players
- National Hockey League first round draft picks
- New York Rangers draft picks
- New York Rangers players
- New York Rangers scouts
- Sportspeople from Cranbrook, British Columbia
- Tampa Bay Lightning executives
- Tampa Bay Lightning scouts
- Toledo Goaldiggers players
- Vernon Vipers players
- Canadian ice hockey player stubs
