Corey Hirsch column: Replacing Fleury with Murray a genius move
I have to give Mike Sullivan credit - he looks like a genius.
After Marc-Andre Fleury got off to a poor start in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final, the Pittsburgh Penguins coach immediately went to Matt Murray to finish the game, then promptly started him in Game 4, even though Fleury had carried the Penguins this far.
Murray had missed all of the playoffs with a lower-body injury up to that point, and Sullivan's fitness for the job would be questioned if Murray did not play well.
Murray rewarded his coach with a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 4, followed by a shutout in Game 5. He has two wins, and has allowed just three goals against on 71 shots in the three games he has played.
The Penguins, up 3-2 in the series with Murray in goal, now look unstoppable.
So why would a coach do this? Why take out Fleury after all the work he's put in to carry his team to the Eastern Conference Final?
I'm going to tell you why.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
Murray got Sullivan his first Stanley Cup as a head coach. Sullivan trusts Murray, and knows him well. Coaches are fiercely loyal to players that help them win.
When I was the third goalie with the eventual Stanley Cup-champion New York Rangers in 1994, Mike Keenan brought in Steve Larmer, Brian Noonan, and Stephan Matteau from Chicago. He traded great players like Mike Gartner, James Patrick, and Tony Amonte to get them.
Why?
Keenan knew them from Chicago, and trusted that they could help him win.
Every good coach has his boys - the players he trusts. Unless you're an All-Star player, which accounts for roughly 5-7 percent of the NHL, you need to have someone on your side - a coach to help you climb the ladder. Matteau and Noonan were good players, but by no means superstars. Keenan helped them both become millionaires and Stanley Cup champions.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
The man that helped me climb that ladder was Tom Renney. I had won a Memorial Cup with him in Kamloops. So when Tom landed the head coaching job for Hockey Canada and the 1994 Olympic team, who did he bring in as the goalie he would trust for the biggest tournament in the world? Me - and for the same reasons Sullivan went to Murray. I had won with Tom before.
I recall not playing well just before the 1994 Olympics, and there was talk of bringing another goalie in to replace me. But Tom stuck by me. I remember a particular day in Sweden, two weeks before the Olympics; Tom brought me in for a meeting to talk to me. He said all the right things, and I went on to play every minute in the Olympics, winning a silver medal for Canada.
Was it a little ruthless to not start Fleury in Game 4? Definitely.
But Matt Murray is Mike Sullivan's guy, and that's all there is to it.