Murray Clifford Oliver (November 14, 1937 – November 23, 2014) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre, coach, and scout.[1] Murray also played Minor League Baseball for the Batavia Indians, then an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.[2]

Murray Oliver
Born (1937-11-14)November 14, 1937
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died November 23, 2014(2014-11-23) (aged 77)
Edina, Minnesota, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Boston Bruins
Detroit Red Wings
Minnesota North Stars
Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career 1958–1975

Playing career

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Oliver grew up in Hamilton and played junior hockey with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs of the Ontario Hockey Association. After scoring 90 points in 52 games as a 20-year-old, he signed a professional contract and was assigned to the Edmonton Flyers, an affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). As an NHL rookie during the 1959-60 season, he scored 20 goals. His first NHL goal occurred on November 21, 1959, in a 3–3 tie versus Boston. However, Detroit was loaded at the centre position, which made Oliver expendable. He was traded to the Boston Bruins partway through the next season.[3]

Oliver played for the Bruins until 1967. While in Boston, Oliver centred the B.O.W. line with wingers Johnny Bucyk and Tommy Williams, where he starred as a crafty stickhandler and patient playmaker. He put up an NHL career-high 68 points in 1964, despite knee surgery the prior season.[4] He was traded in 1967 to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he centred a line for three years with Bob Pulford and Ron Ellis.[3]

Oliver was traded on May 22, 1970 (announced May 26) to the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for Terry O'Malley, the rights to Brian Conacher and cash. Previously, the Maple Leafs had attempted to trade Oliver to the St. Louis Blues for goaltender Jacques Plante, but an excess of centres for St. Louis prevented the deal.[5] Similarly, the Chicago Black Hawks were involved in a possible trade, but Chicago's price of Oliver and Bob Pulford in exchange for Jim Pappin was too high for the Maple Leafs, prompting the trade to Minnesota.[5] Oliver played five seasons with the North Stars. He scored an NHL career-high 27 goals in 1971-72. In 1975, after a bitter contract dispute with Stars management, he retired.

In 18 seasons, Oliver played 1127 regular season games and scored 274 goals with 454 assists for a total of 728 points. He played in the NHL All-Star Game five times. After retiring he was hired by former teammate Lou Nanne as Minnesota's assistant coach. He worked with the club until the 1985–86 NHL season, with 37 games as head coach.[6] He became a scout with the Vancouver Canucks and later took over as the club's director of pro scouting.[3] On November 23, 2014, he died of a heart attack at the age of 77.[7][8][9]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1953–54 Burlington Mohawks CJHL
1953–54 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 2 0 2 2 0 5 1 0 1 0
1954–55 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 39 5 13 18 19 3 2 0 2 0
1955–56 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 5 1 1 2 2
1956–57 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 52 17 42 59 20 4 3 1 4 0
1957–58 Hamilton Tiger Cubs OHA 52 34 56 90 37 4 2 5 7 8
1957–58 Detroit Red Wings NHL 1 0 1 1 0
1958–59 Edmonton Flyers WHL 64 33 34 67 35 3 1 1 2 0
1959–60 Detroit Red Wings NHL 54 20 19 39 16 6 1 0 1 4
1959–60 Edmonton Flyers WHL 16 8 12 20 6
1960–61 Detroit Red Wings NHL 49 11 12 23 8
1960–61 Boston Bruins NHL 21 6 10 16 8
1961–62 Boston Bruins NHL 70 17 29 46 21
1962–63 Boston Bruins NHL 65 22 40 62 38
1963–64 Boston Bruins NHL 70 24 44 68 41
1964–65 Boston Bruins NHL 65 20 23 43 30
1965–66 Boston Bruins NHL 70 18 42 60 30
1966–67 Boston Bruins NHL 65 9 26 35 16
1967–68 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 74 16 21 37 18
1968–69 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 14 36 50 16 4 1 2 3 0
1969–70 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 76 14 33 47 16
1970–71 Minnesota North Stars NHL 61 9 23 32 8 12 7 4 11 0
1971–72 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 27 29 56 16 7 0 6 6 4
1972–73 Minnesota North Stars NHL 75 11 31 42 10 6 0 4 4 2
1973–74 Minnesota North Stars NHL 78 17 20 37 4
1974–75 Minnesota North Stars NHL 80 19 15 34 24
NHL totals 1,127 274 454 728 320 35 9 16 25 10

NHL coaching record

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Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pts Finish Result
Minnesota North Stars 1982–83 37 18 12 7 43 2nd in Norris Lost in Division Finals

Minor League Baseball

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On June 25, 1958, Murray was assigned to play for the Batavia Indians, where scouts hailed him as "one of the greatest athletes we've ever seen". In his debut, which was delayed because of a broken arm he suffered during the hockey season, he went hitless in three at-bats and committed one error. Over only 8 more games, mostly at third base, he batted .185 and committed an error per game, and was released by the Indians.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cole, Stephen (2006). The Canadian Hockey Atlas. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 978-0-385-66093-8.
  2. ^ a b Dougherty, Bill (2014). Batavia: A View From The Bleachers. Doughtrey US. ISBN 978-1-312-14129-2.
  3. ^ a b c "Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- Player -- Murray Oliver". HHOF.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "The Telegraph - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Oliver, Greg. Written in Blue & White. ECW Press. p. 148.
  6. ^ "Glen Sonmor says he has taken his last walk... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  7. ^ "Ex-North Star Murray Oliver dies at 77". Star Tribune.
  8. ^ Clinton, Jared (November 25, 2014). "Looking back at the career of former North Star, Bruin, Maple Leaf Murray Oliver". The Hockey News. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  9. ^ Staff, S. I. (November 25, 2014). "Ex-North Star Murray Oliver dies at 77". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
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Preceded by Head coach of the Minnesota North Stars
1983
Succeeded by