Sean Murray, who learned how to get the best out of hockey goalies working alongside Russian great Vladislav Tretiak, is the new goaltending coach of the Prince George Cougars, the team announced Friday.
Murray has 20 years of coaching experience and is a former goalie coach of the Vancouver Giants (2006-11) and Portland Winterhawks (2003-06). He replaces goaltending consultant Justin Cardinal of Calgary, who was with the Cougars the past three seasons.
Murray is the founder of the Pro-Formance Goalie School and Development Centre in Vancouver and has worked with San Jose Sharks starting goalie Martin Jones. Murray has coached B.C. Hockey League and Canadian university teams and worked as a consultant in several hockey associations in B.C. and California.
"I'm very familiar with Ty Edmonds, Nick McBride and many of the prospects in our (Cougar) system," said Murray, in a team release. "That made it easy for me to transition into this role. I know what I have to work with and I think it could be an amazing year,"
The Cougars also announced they've hired Scott Blakeney of Vancouver as the team's Lower Mainland scout. Blakeney spent the past eight seasons identifying prospects as the Lower Mainland scout of the Winterhawks. During that time, the Winterhawks won the Western Conference championship four straight seasons (2011-14) and were crowned WHL champions in 2013.
"Both Sean and Scott bring a proven track-record of winning to our organization," said Prince George Cougars general manager Todd Harkins. "Sean is an excellent teacher, a tireless worker and he's always been able to get the very best out of his goaltenders. And in Scott's case, he's done a great job at identifying talent and recruiting players to the WHL from the Lower Mainland. His experience and his familiarity with the WHL makes him a major asset to our franchise moving forward."
