The Players' Tribune: How good was Glen Murray?

[Bruinaura]

He was a little before my time as a serious Bruins fan, so I don't really recall much about him. Have to say, I was under the impression that he was a little more well liked than seems to be the case in this thread. Maybe because he wore an A.

 

[dabid]

I always liked him. I thought he was going to pot 40 with Savard in 2006-07 but then declined quickly and moved like he was wearing concrete skates and that was that.

And of course the GLEN MURRAY WINS IT IN OVERTIME! has to be by default my favorite Bruins moment from becoming a fan until the Chiarelli/Clode/Neely era. I can still remember my teenage self jumping around the living room in jubilation after that. Weird though how the Bruins went up 3-1 in the series and they didn't play anymore games after that

 

[KrugAvoy]

For whatever reason young me always thought he was the dude from Cash Cab

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

To the OP, my memory of him was when he scored his 40th goal of the season in 2003.

 

[Ladyfan]

He was a little before my time as a serious Bruins fan, so I don't really recall much about him. Have to say, I was under the impression that he was a little more well liked than seems to be the case in this thread. Maybe because he wore an A.

Yes he wore an "A" and could have worn the "C". Muzz was indeed a leader on the team.

 

[CDJ]

His 2nd tenure in Boston got worse over time and his skating was glacial by the end, but in his prime here he was a hell of a shooter. Very good player.

 

[NDiesel]

I was young, and might have caught him near the downswing of his career, but I remember not being a fan of him. Was way too slow for my liking.

 

[Ladyfan]

His 2nd tenure in Boston got worse over time and his skating was glacial by the end, but in his prime here he was a hell of a shooter. Very good player.

He had issues with his ankle/ foot.

I remember he got the team together and was great in the locker room.

 

[Ladyfan]

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

He struggled after the lockout because he couldn't get a free ride down the ice by hooking the Dman in front of him. Actually had to skate which didn't bode well. Great shot once parked where he was pulled to.

 

[Kovi2]

A favorite of mine. Nothing like Muzz with blood dripping from his brow. Skated like he was walking through mud, but an incredible locker room guy and could hit you like a truck. fond memories.

 

[Gordoff]

I liked him enough in the first time that he spent here (#44).
But when he ended up in LA I thought that was a good place for him
and his talents. When the Bruins re-acquired him (and I believe Stumpel)
I was upset and disappointed because at that point in M'OC tenure as GM
he was trading players back and forth seemingly without any thoughts of
what it was doing to team unity and structure.
I was 50/50 on his coming back and wanted the B's to slow down and see
what they had. I can't remember too much about Anson Carter but IMO they
lost him before he fully developed too.
When the Bruins traded for Murray from LA, I thought M'OC was grasping for straws
and had no idea what direction the team was headed in.
I liked Murray when he came back because he seemed to really mature.
My real disgust was the way
M'OC was wheeling and dealing players without a thought about cohesion, (as I said team
unity and cohesion) but
more about shooting from the hip on a lot of his moves at that point in the job.

I felt that he was just hanging by his fingernails, afraid to lose his job, which he did.
One last point:
Of all of my inner circle, closest friends I was the last one to remain as a Bruins fan.
The others IMO became "Pink Hats" and never truly returned. I never figured that one out.

 

[RoccoF14]

I thought he was overrated and the single biggest reason why Joe Thornton failed here. Jumbo Joe going to Davos and being Rick Nash's Adam Oates really killed the dominant physical goal scoring center he should have been, He was Murray's set up guy when the strike ended and wound up out of here and resumed the role with San Jose.

I'll agree with this. Well said.

He was a guy who when you watched him play, you'd ask yourself "How in the hell is THIS guy a 30+ goal scorer?"

He was never a great skater, but the last couple of years he was basically playing on 1 leg.

 

[Bruins78]

He was never open but his stick was...he was fortunate to have some good centers who would put it where he needed it. He would often be fronted by a dman and just slowly drift back to the high slot and find an angle out wide where his stick was in a passing lane and it would be off his blade as soon as it arrived. I always like him but was limited to scoring goals. I never thought he was selfish or lazy, always seemed to be respected in the locker room...just didn't have the skillset to do much more. Kind of reminds me a little bit of a bigger/slower Boeser where he better score 25-35 goals because he's invisible otherwise.

 

[HooperDrivesTheBoat]

His 2nd tenure in Boston got worse over time and his skating was glacial by the end, but in his prime here he was a hell of a shooter. Very good player.

Well-said, that’s how I felt about Muzz.

 

[Oates2Neely]

Didn’t he have a foot or knee injury he was always dealing with?
I liked Muzz. Cannon of a shot. Knew how to score. I don’t think he was lazy his skating just wasn’t great. Seemed well like by his teammates. He played in an era where being parked at the top of the crease was met with several cross checks. Not an easy way to make a living but he never shied away from the crease.

 

[Ladyfan]

Didn’t he have a foot or knee injury he was always dealing with?
I liked Muzz. Cannon of a shot. Knew how to score. I don’t think he was lazy his skating just wasn’t great. Seemed well like by his teammates. He played in an era where being parked at the top of the crease was met with several cross checks. Not an easy way to make a living but he never shied away from the crease.

yes. We had our ST when he was playing. That last year Muzz had a bone sticking out of his ankle. I am not sure how he got that skate on.

He was never lazy.

Muzz was an above average player and leader.

 

[Kalus]

I watched pretty much every game during Muzz’ second stint and liked him as a player. Late bloomer who developed that lethal one timer. It was fun watching him use it while getting fed by one of the greatest setup men in league history.

Yeah, he was one dimensional even in his peak years but that one dimension is a very important one and a fun one to watch. Also, there were a lot more one dimensional players in the game back then, so he wasn’t as unique in that respect as it might appear today where pretty much all roster players are expected to be well rounded.