Detroit
defenseman Larry Murphy was no doubt tempted to show some
schadenfreude after the Red Wings took a 3-0 lead over
Washington in the Stanley Cup finals last Saturday. In
Detroit's 2-1 victory in Game 3, Murphy played a team-high
27:17 (typical), put four shots on net (about his norm) and shut
down the Capitals rush after rush (naturally). He could
have gloated at the Washington fans who had treated him
rudely. Or he might have looked into the TV cameras and
said to his former
antagonists in Toronto, What do you think of me now?
At 37, Murphy has done solid work on D and chipped in offensively.
(David E. Klutho)
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Murphy did none of that. Though he was vilified as a
Capital a decade ago and jeered off the ice as a Maple Leaf
last year, his redemption comes in his indispensability to
hockey's best team. At 37 Murphy has spent the past 14
months resurrecting a Hall
of Fame career that many assumed was dead. He was the lone
Red Wing to play all 82 games this season, finishing with
52 points to become the third-highest-scoring defenseman in
NHL history (1,103 points). He moves the puck with great
command and
possesses an unfailing instinct for knowing when to rush up the ice
and when to bear down defensively. While Murphy has thrived
next to his Norris Trophy-caliber defensive partner,
Nicklas Lidstrom, who covers more ice than a Zamboni, his
game stands on its own
very nicely. "I don't care who he's playing
with," says Washington captain Dale Hunter.
"That's Larry Murphy out there. We're always aware of
him."
Fans have been aware of him, too. Near the end of Murphy's
tenure (1983-84 to '87-88) with the then perennially
underachieving Capitals, a few hometown hecklers began
issuing a series of
whoops every time he touched the puck. The significance of the
sound remains a mystery, but because Murphy neither skates
swiftly nor delivers jarring checks, he was an easy target
for the common fan. The
whoops—which echoed again during Game 3—spread among
the dissatisfied Washington faithful, and soon playing in
the Cap Center became a nightmare for Murphy. "That
hurt Larry," says Hunter, "because it was totally
undeserved."
From this acidic climate Murphy was dealt to the North
Stars. He later went to Pittsburgh, where he anchored
Cup-winning teams in 1991 and '92. In July '95 the Penguins
traded Murphy to the Maple Leafs, a slow, old and highly
paid team. The club
foundered, and last season Murphy, who was earning
$2.35 million, became a symbol of the rotten times. Boos rained
down and left him wounded again. Usually forthcoming,
Murphy withdrew, and after games he dressed in private
quarters and slipped away from the
media.
Though Murphy's teammates swore by his savvy play, there
was a leaguewide perception that he was finished. The Wings
picked him up from the Leafs at last year's trading
deadline but only as insurance. "I thought he'd be a
patch who might give us some
depth," says Detroit vice president Jim Devellano.
"Never did I think he would play so
well."
Murphy was integral to last year's Cup run, contributing 11
points in 20 playoff games. This year he had 13 points and
was a team-best
+12 through 21 games. Would the Red Wings have won last year,
or reached this season's finals, without Murphy? Coach
Scotty Bowman has a three-word answer: "No. No.
No."
Murphy won't dwell on the bad old days in Washington or
Toronto, instead turning his attention to today's good
times. "I feel fortunate to be on this team," he
said after Saturday's victory, in which the Wings held off
a late Capitals challenge. "We
hung in there and
persevered."
Just as Murphy
has.
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NHL Finals
