From Toronto Castoff to Red Wings Champion: How Larry Murphy Found New Life

Larry Murphy was booed out of Toronto in 1997. Months later, the Hall of Fame defenseman was hoisting the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings.

Hockey Hall of Fame inductee member Larry Murphy Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

By the middle of March 1997, Larry Murphy had become one of the most unwanted players in Toronto. Murphy had respectable numbers with the Maple Leafs, but when it comes to a team who hasn’t won a Stanley Cup championship since 1967, everything you do on the ice is under a microscope. Murphy found that out the hard way as Leafs fans rained boos down upon him on a nightly basis.

Murphy had already won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and had been one of the NHL’s premier defensemen. But the Maple Leafs were struggling, Murphy carried a sizable contract, and his style became an easy target. The relationship deteriorated so badly that Leafs fans would mockingly chant his name. The Red Wings saw something Toronto’s fan base no longer did and that was a defenseman who could still help a championship team.

With Nicklas Lidstrom and Vladimir Konstantinov already in the defensive fold for the Red Wings, Murphy was just another cherry on top of the sundae. That allowed Murphy to settle into a veteran role on an extraordinarily deep team.

He played 12 regular-season games for the Red Wings after the trade, then appeared in all 20 playoff games during the Wings’ run to the 1997 Stanley Cup. While the Maple Leafs were willing to move on from Murphy for virtually nothing, the Red Wings found immediate value from him when the games mattered most.

After the Red Wings won the Cup, the limousine crash involving Konstantinov changed everything. Konstantinov’s playing career came to a premature end and suddenly, Murphy wasn’t simply an experienced depth addition. His importance to the Red Wings’ defense increased considerably.  Murphy responded by helping the Wings repeat as Stanley Cup champions in 1998.

Murphy stayed with the Red Wings through the 2000-01 season, giving the Wings four-plus seasons after the Maple Leafs thought his career was basically over. When he closed the book on his storybook career, Murphy had played in 1,615 NHL games, won four Stanley Cups and amassed 1,216 points, eventually earning induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Murphy didn’t suddenly become a different player when he crossed the border in 1997. What changed was his situation. The Red Wings didn’t ask him to justify a contract or rescue a struggling franchise. They simply asked him to contribute to a championship team. Murphy did that immediately, and what looked like the end of his career in Toronto became the beginning of something special in Detroit.