Murphy’s Return Lifts Rangers To Victories

Kitchener Rangers Head Coach, Steve Spott, will be breathing easier this weekend after he got back the most offensively threatening defenseman in the league from a year ago.

Ryan Murphy, who was returned by the Carolina Hurricanes to the Kitchener Rangers on Thursday, said it was a bittersweet moment at first, but he’s excited to be back.

“I was a bit disappointed at first but I’m coming back to a great organization here in Kitchener; it was a win-win situation for me, I mean I either stay in the NHL or I get sent back to a great organization,” said Murphy.

Murphy is a Ranger again and he plans on doing what he has done in previous seasons to succeed in Kitchener.

“My first two years on this team, I was an offensive guy. I ran the power play here and I’m focused on doing the exact same thing here for this season; I’m just going to go out there and it’s a matter of doing what I know how to do,” he said.

Murphy had one assist on Friday night, and three on Saturday afternoon, as the Rangers beat the defending OHL champs 5-3 in both games of their home-and-home affair.

He played his aggressive style of defense but did show some signs of rust with a late-game giveaway in Friday’s game that led to a goal as part of a third period comeback attempted by Owen Sound that fell short.

Head Coach, Steve Spott isn’t too concerned about the giveaway or about Murphy’s defensive abilities.

“I think anytime these players come back from the NHL, they think it might be easier then it is so I think it’s just a matter of respecting his opponents,” said Spott.

“He gave away the one goal there but we made light of it at the end of the game,” Spott continued. “But I think that it’s a turnover like that, that’s going to make him better.”

Rather then looking at the negatives, Spott looks to what Murphy brings to his team offensively as well as what he expects to see from him in what is likely, his last year as a Ranger.

“He creates so much from the back end, he’s like a fourth forward out on the ice and he just creates a lot of offense for our club. He’s going to have to be one of our leaders on and off the ice,” Spott said.

“He’s going to have to be our offensive catalyst and he’s going to have to run our power play so he’s going to be a 25-30 minute a night guy and were going to expect big things from him this year.”

Coach Spott isn’t the only Ranger who has increased their expectations since Murphy walked into the locker room.

“He’s a world-class offensive defenseman, probably the best his age for creating points offensively. We’ll definitely make the playoffs, it’s just with Murph, we can go far,” said teammate, Max Iafrate.

As for his time spent south of the border, Murphy was happy to see a friendly face and a former teammate in Carolina.

“Jeff Skinner, he’s an ex-Ranger and he helped me out a lot throughout the way,” he said.

Murphy may not have played in any regular season games for the Hurricanes but he took a lot away from the experience of being with an NHL club.

“Everything up there happens a lot quicker and everyone is always in the right spot so if I learned one thing, it was probably to move the puck and jump into the play where as here I’m used to just rushing the puck the whole way,” Murphy said.