Connor Murphy excited to finally play some high-stakes hockey

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Connor Murphy passes around Detroit’s Luke Esposito during Thursday’s preseason game at the United Center. (Getty Images)

Connor Murphy never lost sight of the fact that he was ridiculously fortunate to be in the NHL, to be making good money while playing the game he loved, traveling in comfort and staying in posh hotels, having his every whim catered to and his every meal catered.

But there’s something undeniably soul-crushing about checking into some hotel in some city at some ungodly hour of the morning, fresh off the plane mere hours after playing some utterly meaningless hockey game in the dead of winter. After all, the hockey season can feel monotonous for every player. For those on dreadful teams far outside the playoff picture, it can sometimes feel torturous.

“It’s the worst,” Murphy said. “It’s hard. Because no matter how hard you try in your mind, you know even when you win games that it’s not counting toward anything because you’re out of the picture. You try to focus on things and try to improve your game, but the NHL is about winning. It’s about making the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. It’s not just about individual stuff. It’s not about games that don’t matter. It’s about that prize. When those things are out of reach, it’s the worst. You want to be one of those teams that’s playing for the top spot.”

Murphy has never been on one of those teams. He’s never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. Heck, if you look at his career in the harshest terms, he’s never played a truly meaningful NHL game. He was mostly a healthy scratch down the stretch of his rookie season in 2013-14, when the Coyotes lost seven straight games to fall just short of the postseason. The Coyotes were dead last in the Western Conference the next season; 25 points out of first place the year after that; 24 points out of the eighth and final seed last season.

Murphy is quick to note that the Coyotes were good to him and good for him. He was able to crack the lineup at age 20, had the relative peace and quiet of a small market in which to hone his skills and was rewarded with a six-year, $23.1 million contract last season. But the Coyotes are constantly rebuilding. Every year, they seem to get talked up as a team to watch for, with young talent to burn. Every year, it quickly becomes about next year.

“Every year, it gets worse and worse being out early and not having any playoff chances,” Murphy said. “It’s the worst thing to sit there and realize you’re that far off. To even think of that possibility of playing in the playoffs is so exciting — that’s why you play.”

Murphy has been around the NHL his whole life. His father, Gord, played 15 NHL seasons and has been an NHL assistant coach for the last 14 years, including the last three with the Flyers. Murphy is fully steeped in the game’s lore and the magic of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

So while the 24-year-old isn’t the youngest guy in the Blackhawks’ dressing room, he might be the most appreciative of the opportunity he has. After all, the Hawks are one of the few teams that talk openly in September of not only making the playoffs, but winning the Cup.

“The appetite is going to be great for him,” Joel Quenneville said. “For anyone new coming into our team, we feel the one thing we’re always striving to do is very [obvious]. It’s a common goal.”

Murphy brushes off the idea that he has to “replace” the guy for whom he was traded, Niklas Hjalmarsson, even if he’s likely to take Hjalmarsson’s spot next to Duncan Keith on the top pairing. They’re both defensive-minded, but that’s largely where the similarities end. Murphy is bigger, more physical, with a heavier shot. Hjalmarsson, though, was revered for his “warrior” mentality and was a huge factor in three Stanley Cup runs.

So while Murphy rejects the comparisons, he welcomes the pressure that comes with lofty expectations. If anything, he has been waiting his whole career for it.

“Right when you get traded, you realize what it’s like in a bigger market, and the impact they have on the city and the hockey world, being an Original Six team that’s had success in the recent past,” Murphy said. “It brings a lot of expectations for you to play their best. But that’s what you want. You want those high stakes. I can’t wait. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

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