'Huge honor' for Everett Silvertips defenseman

Ryan Murray has lived the dream of just about every young Canadian hockey player.

The Everett Silvertips defenseman captained a Canadian national team at a major international tournament. He led that team, Canada's under-18 squad, to the gold medal last weekend at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. He helped carry the championship trophy on a lap of honor around the rink in Piestany, Slovakia.

As for the gold medal itself? Well, that's going to have to wait.

"Actually, there wasn't any medal ceremony," Murray said after returning to his home in White City, Saskatchewan. "They're going to send them to us."

Murray earned that medal when Canada defeated the United States in a 1-0 thriller Saturday. The victory completed a perfect tournament for the Canadians, who won all five of their games.

And as the captain, Murray was front and center throughout the proceedings.

"I just thought it was a great tournament," Murray said. "It was a great experience representing my country and winning a gold medal.

"It was a huge honor to lead that team," Murray added. "I really just tried to lead by example, do the right things both on and off the ice."

Murray, who's heading into his second season with the Tips and is still more than a month away from his 17th birthday, finished with two assists in Canada's five games. Canada outscored its opponents 26-9 during the tournament.

"We played some good teams," Murray said. "The U.S., Sweden, it was good competition.

"We played really defensive," Murray added. "Our coach, George Burnett, really stressed playing defense-first hockey. In the championship game, once we got one goal we played very defensive. We hit some posts and they had some scoring chances, it was really close this whole way."

Murray's numbers were modest in part because of illness. He suffered a bout of strep throat during the tournament, affecting him particularly during the round-robin games.

"I was feeling a little tired for some of the games, but I played in every game," Murray said. "It was bad for two days, but after that it didn't bother me much in the semifinals or the final."

Murray also one-upped one of his coaches. Silvertips associate head coach Jay Varady was a member of the coaching staff for the U.S. team Canada defeated in the championship game. Varady also was a staff member of the U.S. team that beat Canada for the gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships in January, an accomplishment he made sure Everett's Canadian contingent knew about. Now, Murray has exacted a little revenge for the Canadians.

"After the game (Varady) came up to me and congratulated me," Murray said. "I might give him the business a little bit, but not much."

Murray's experience at the Hlinka tournament was far better than his previous experience with Canada's U-18 team. Murray was selected for the team that participated at the U-18 World Championships last April in Belarus. In that tournament, the Canadians not only failed to medal, they found themselves in the rare position of having to win to avoid relegation to the B pool.

But this team was far different from the one that played in the spring. First off, 1992-born players were eligible at the World Championships but were not at the Hlinka tournament, and as a result Murray was the only Canadian player who played at both tournaments. Secondly, Canada's entry to the World Championships is always incomplete as it can only include Canadian Hockey League players whose teams are no longer alive after the first round of the playoffs. The team for the Hlinka tournament has a full pool of players to pick from, as well as more time to prepare.

"Last spring we were pretty upset," Murray said. "That was not how we wanted to finish. So, it was really good to bounce back in this one and win it."

But while Murray's team enjoyed little success at the World Championships, Murray himself received invaluable experience that prepared him for the captain's role in Slovakia.

"I think it helped me," Murray said. "I knew what to expect in Europe, knew what playing in a tournament like that was going to be like. You've got to win every single game if you want to get to the finals, so it's intense competition. And I knew how to deal with the adversity with the different foods and hotels."

Murray was the captain despite being the youngest player on the team. Now the question is how long before Murray becomes a candidate for the Canadian World Junior team. Murray is not considered a candidate for this winter's tournament, but he likely will be in contention the following year as an 18-year-old.

"(Hockey Canada) didn't really tell me anything," Murray said of his future with the national team. "They just told me to keep working hard and playing the way I'm playing. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to play at the World Juniors level some day."

And maybe he be able to add to his medal count -- provided this last one doesn't get lost in the mail.

Nick Patterson's Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog