Ducks Hire Bryan Murray

NHL teams

"Murray is a perfect fit for us at this time," said Pierre Gauthier, the Ducks' president and general manager. "Bryan combines enormous experience, a winning background, and an eagerness to work with young players that should assure us of continued growth and immediate success."

Murray most recently was the Florida Panthers' vice president and general manager from 1994-2001. He was their coach during the 1997-98 season.

"In my heart, I'm a coach," Murray said at a news conference. "When you're the manager, you have to please everybody. When you're the coach, you only have to please some 20 players, and not all the time – and win. Having been a teacher and coach at different levels, being a coach is fun. When you can't play any more, it's the closest you can get to it."

The Ducks finished their second-worst season – 25-41-11-5 and last in the Western Conference. They haven't made the playoffs since 1998-99, when they were swept by Detroit in the first round.

"I think there's a good core here," Murray said. "What they have is a star player (Paul Kariya), some other forwards and defensemen who have a good opportunity to improve, and they improved their goaltending late in the season."