Margaret Degidio Murphy

Margaret Degidio Murphy is the former head coach of the Boston Blades in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Prior to joining the Blades, she was the head coach of the Brown Bears women's ice hockey program. She became the most victorious coach in Division I women's ice hockey history during her 18th season at Brown (2006–2007).^[1] She would finish her NCAA coaching career with 318 career wins.

Playing career

Cornell University

As a student athlete at Cornell, Murphy had several accomplishments. She was a four-year letter winner for the Cornell Big Red women's ice hockey team and was the Big Red team captain as a junior and a senior. In 1981, she was named Ivy League Player of the Year and finished her career with 123 goals and 90 assists. She was enshrined in the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994

Murphy was inducted in the International Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame. Prior to coaching at Brown, she was a student athlete at Cornell University. The women's hockey Most Valuable Player Award at Cornell is named after her.

Coaching career

Brown Bears

Murphy has had records of .500 or better in 14 of her 18 seasons as head coach at Brown.^[2] During the 2006-07 season, a 3-1 victory over Boston University made Murphy the most victorious coach in Division I women's hockey history. With the victory, she passed former Providence and Yale coach John Marchetti.^[3] In the same season, the Bears beat Union, 6-0 for the 300th win of her career. In 2010, Murphy applied for the Brown University men’s hockey head coaching job.^[4]

Her time at Brown consisted of 6 ECAC titles and 5 Ivy League Titles. In addition, Murphy’s players have included 1 Patty Kazmaier Award winner, 3 All-Americans and 7 participants in women’s ice hockey at the Winter Games, including three-time gold medalist Becky Kellar. As a side note, Amanda Asay, who competed for Murphy from 2006–09^[5] was a participant in the inaugural women’s baseball tournament at the 2015 Pan American Games.^[6] Murphy was the first female coach inducted into Brown’s Wall of Honor.

Boston Blades

For the 2012-13 Canadian Women's Hockey League CWHL season, Murphy was the head coach and general manager of the Boston Blades. She would lead the franchise to the 2013 Clarkson Cup and 2015 Clarkson Cupchampionships, along with an appearance in the finals of the 2014 Clarkson Cup. Murphy was named the 2013 CWHL Coach of the Year and was credited as the winning coach for Team Red in the inaugural 1st Canadian Women's Hockey League All-Star Game.

During her second season with the Blades, she was recognized as the recipient of the Women’s Ice Hockey Founders Award.^[7] Her time with the Blades involved becoming the first American-born coach to win two Clarkson Cup titles, and becoming the first coach to lead a US-based team to two Cup wins. As a side note, three of her players with the Blades made CWHL history. Hilary Knight, who played for Murphy in 2012-13 and 2014-15 would become the first American-born player to capture CWHL Most Valuable Player honors. In 2013, Katka Mrazova would become the first European-born player to capture the Clarkson Cup (in 2013), while Janine Weber became the first European-born player to score a Clarkson Cup clinching goal (in 2015).^[8]

International

Murphy was part of the IIHF Ambassador and Mentorship Program, working with Rick Polutnik as cach mentors for the Slovakia women's national ice hockey team.^[9] On February 27, 2017, Murphy was named as the chief coach for the HC Kunlun Red Star women's team.^[10]

Other

During the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, Murphy worked as a broadcaster, becoming the first American female color analyst for a women’s ice hockey game broadcast on television. In 2001, Murphy was the co-founder of the RI IXpress girls’ hockey program, the first elite girls hockey program in the state of Rhode Island.

UWLX

In 2015, Murphy and Aronda Kirby were the founders of UWLX, the first professional women's lacrosse league in the United States, with the regular season beginning in May 2016.

USA Hockey

On numerous occasions, Murphy has been involved with USA Hockey. She coached the U.S. National team at the Lake Placid Olympic Festival in 2004. She was an assistant at the 1992 IIHF Women's World Championships and the 1996 Three Nations Tournament. In addition, she was a member of the 1998 Olympic Selection Committee.

Play It Forward

Murphy and Aronda Kirby, a former General Manager with the Boston Blades, were the founders of the Play It Forward Sport Foundation, which works towards gender equity at all levels of women’s sports. The first annual Play It Forward Girls Sports Festival was held in August 2015 in Rochester, New York. Other individuals that were part of the inaugural Play It Forward Foundation’s leadership group included Valarie Gelb, Debbie McKay, John Mayers and former Winter Games silver medalist and Clarkson Cup champion Molly Schaus.^[11]

United Women's Sports

Founded by Murphy in 2016,United Women's Sports LLC is an American professional sports company based in Providence, Rhode Island. Operating women’s professional sports leagues as a financially sustainable sports entertainment product, UWS works toward raising awareness of women in sport. The business model for UWS is based on the objective of Play It Forward Sports,^[12] which was founded in 2015, aiming to create female leaders through sport. Such goals include providing opportunities for women to work in sports, including disciplines such as Marketing, On-Air, Production, Operations and Finance. Operating expenses for UWS includes administration, player salaries, facilities, game operations, travel/lodging and insurance, among others.

Year by year record

NCAA

^[13]

CWHL

Awards and honors

• Brown Bears Wall of Honor
• 1981 Ivy League Player of the Year
• 1993 Cornell University’s Athletic Hall of Fame
• 1997 ECAC/KOHO and the New England Hockey Writers' Coach of the Year awards
• 2004, International Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame
• 2013 Canadian Women's Hockey League CWHL Coach of the Year.
• 2014 Women’s Ice Hockey Founders Award
• 2015 honoree, Forty over 40

See also

• List of college women's ice hockey coaches with 250 wins

External links

• Digit Murphy Official Website
• Play It Forward Official Website

References