ADAM MURRAY
Denver
So. | G | Anchorage, Alaska

Key Statistics: Backing up Hobey Baker finalist Marc Cheverie, Murray played eight games for the Pioneers, finishing with a 3-4-1 record, a 3.81 goals-against average and a .874 saves percentage. He posted a career-high 34 saves during a 6-3 loss to Wisconsin in relief of Cheverie in the WCHA Final Five third-place game.

What He Does: Many top students come to college confident of their abilities, and are struck by the volume of work required during their freshman year. Murray experienced the hockey version of that his first season at DU, admitting that his handful OF appearances between the pipes didn’t go as well as he would’ve liked. He was given a chance to compete for playing time early last season, but Cheverie made the coaches’ decision easy with shutouts in his first three WCHA starts. Never one to slack off in the summer, Murray traveled to Toronto last month with Cheverie and another notable former Pioneer netminder, Peter Mannino, to work with an NHL goalie coach determined to tweak some positional things and learn more and more about the game. His first goal is to backstop a Denver repeat as MacNaughton Cup champions.

The Bigger Picture: Coach George Gwozdecky admits that goaltending is the “biggest unknown” for Denver heading into the 2010-11 season and he has not appointed Murray, incoming freshman Sam Brittain, or anyone else as the preseason number one guy. “It’s similar to two years ago when Cheverie was coming in with about five games under his belt, and we all know how that turned out,” Gwozdecky said, recalling the Pioneers goalie winning the league’s MVP award last March. Murray’s father played at Alaska Anchorage and the goalie considered coming home for college after a stint with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in Michigan, but was more interested in following in the line of names like Dubielewicz, Berkhoel, Mannino, and Cheverie. So far, Murray has found the Front Range to his liking. “It’s definitely not Alaska, but you can still see the mountains every day,” he said.

Denver coach George Gwozdecky on Murray: “Adam is very talented, he’s quick, he’s fast, and he’s a good athlete. But in college hockey at this level, you’ve got to be more than that. Playing in the WCHA is extremely difficult, especially for a goaltender, and Adam got a good sense of that in the first games he played.”