Penguins goalie Matt Murray out indefinitely after dad dies
Goalie Matt Murray will take an indefinite leave from the Penguins due to the death of his father, James, the team announced.
Murray stayed at home in Ontario while the rest of the team returned from a five-day off week last Friday and missed the first two games after the break. He traveled to California with the team for a three-game road trip Monday, but has since returned home to be with his family.
"It's a difficult time for anyone, when you lose a loved one, especially one of your parents. It's never an easy situation," coach Mike Sullivan said. "It doesn't make it any easier, but certainly I know his teammates, his coaching staff, his management team and the whole Penguins organization are 100 percent supporting him through this process."
The Pittsburgh Penguins offer our deepest condolences to Matt Murray and his family on the passing of Matt's father, James Murray, yesterday in Ontario.
Matt is returning home from the west coast and will miss an indefinite period of time to be with his family.
" Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 17, 2018
Murray's father, who died Tuesday, was a lawyer in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Murray has two flags painted on his back of his helmet, a Scottish flag and a Dutch flag. The Scottish flag honors his father's heritage. The Dutch flag honors his mother's. His parents' initials are written underneath.
When Murray had his day with the Stanley Cup in 2016, his father displayed an 8-inch replica of the famous trophy made out of aluminum foil that he had kept since his son presented it to him for Father's Day when he was a child.
"He didn't get any hockey sense or ability from me," James Murray said in an interview with CBC Radio in June. "I didn't even start skating until university days and didn't play sports as a kid for different reasons. I think the only thing he may have got from me that way is a love of the game. That probably rubbed off a little bit on him."
Murray has said he thinks of his parents before every game.
"My parents were unbelievably supportive," he told ESPN.com in 2016. "I can't thank them enough. You can't even imagine how much money it costs to play triple-A hockey in Thunder Bay, because it's a 100 percent travel team, so you have to pay for all the flights and all the hotels, and that's kind of combined into one lump payment at the start of the season. It's a crazy amount of money.
"My parents paid that. I played five years of triple-A, so my parents paid that for five years in a row and never once complained about the equipment. Never once complained about paying so much money for me to play. It's crazy how supportive they were."
While Murray is on leave, rookies Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith will make up the team's goaltending tandem.
