If the Pittsburgh Penguins keep going the way they are and wind up as Stanley Cup champions, Don Cherry has his Conn Smythe winner picked out.
And if it’s up to him, it’d go to a guy whose performance has been so great that he’d earn MVP honours without playing in every series.
“Let’s talk about (Matt) Murray. MVP as far as I’m concerned,” Cherry said on Saturday night’s Coach’s Corner. “You know I have to say, he’s into that mode where I don’t think they’re ever going to score on him.”
Murray has put up stellar numbers since taking back the starter’s job back from Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final, despite the fact the Penguins have been outshot most of the time. Murray won three of four starts against Ottawa, earning one shutout and never allowing more than two goals against, and in Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, he turned aside 60 of 64 shots to get a 2-0 series lead.
Cherry said Murray’s calm demeanour in the net and his MVP performance reminds him of how Ken Dryden used to play.
“I remember Kenny Dryden I used to think the same thing. Used to look so calm.”
Dryden won the 1971 Conn Smythe Trophy when he led the Montreal Canadiens to a Stanley Cup after playing just six games in the regular season. Dryden won the Calder Trophy the next season and went on to earn five Vezina Trophies in his career.
The 23-year-old Murray’s road was somewhat similar, leading the Penguins to a Stanley Cup last season after playing just 13 regular season games. He didn’t win the Conn Smythe (that went to Sidney Crosby), but he was in the running for it and has clearly become Pittsburgh’s No. 1 ever since. A pre-game warm-up injury prior to Game 1 of these Stanley Cup Playoffs sidelined him, but coach Mike Sullivan turned back to Murray the first chance he was given.
Murray’s playoff MVP may come a year later than Dryden’s, but Cherry thinks if the Penguins win, Murray is a slam dunk pick.
“I’m sure they’re going to score eventually, but every shot he’s got it made. This guy is the MVP. He’s picking up where he left off last year as far as I’m concerned.”
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