Don tracked down Brady Murray for a wide-ranging interview that deals with the recently concluded Manchester season, his development as a player and the famous Murray competitive streak, passed down from his father. Here’s the interview…

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There once was a time when teenaged Brady Murray attended Kings’ prospect camps in the summer and was looked upon as a fun little experiment, kind of a Mini Me version of his father, former Los Angeles coach Andy Murray, happily skating up and down the ice with reckless abandon.

Then he became a Kings draft pick and a valid prospect. But always lurking was the shadow of speculation: Did the Kings only draft Brady because of Andy?

Then coach Andy became former Kings coach. Has the shadow disappeared?

Brady, 23, just completed his first full season in Manchester and the centerman was counted on by Monarchs’ coach Mark Morris to kill penalties, take key face offs and score the occasional goal, tallying 14 on the season.

He also made his NHL debut with the Kings this past season and scored his first goal against the Boston Bruins.

Brady Murray took a few minutes to discuss his 2007-2008 season, and if that lurking shadow is now a thing of the past.

Q&A: Brady Murray

Question: What was it like for you those first few weeks living the dream as an NHL player?

Murray: It was just an unbelievable experience. Obviously I had worked very hard to get to that point in my career and it was just a dream come true for me.

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Question: And then you got your first career goal against the Bruins.

Murray: You know you always dream about being in that situation and to be able to contribute means a lot, and to get that first goal was very cool.

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Question: It sure seems like you were counted on to do a lot of things in Manchester.

Murray: For myself and the whole team it was kind of an up and down season. But we finished strong and made a good push just to make the playoffs; obviously we got swept and didn’t finish up the way we wanted to, but for me personally I felt I contributed a lot in terms of the penalty kill and I chipped in with scoring any time I could. I think if I get the chance to crack the squad with the Kings that is exactly what I hope to be doing for them too.

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Question: What was the experience of the post season like for you?

Murray: We had 17 rookies on the team so it is always good to get that playoff experience. Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but we worked hard and it is playoff hockey and you make a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on it. They were all close games but you can’t be satisfied with that.

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Question: You spent some time in the Swiss Elite league. Tell me about some of the chief differences between that game and the NHL or American League game.

Murray: The big thing in the Swiss league is you are just dealing with the ice surface that is so much bigger and there is just so much more skating over there. Compared to the AHL game, it is kind of a chip it in and check, where I like to handle the puck a bit more on the rush.

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Question: I see you at 5-10, 185 and I see the prototypical third or fourth line center in the NHL who can kill penalties and take key face-offs. Is that a role that you can fill?

Murray: Yeah, definitely. When I went to prospects camp last summer the Kings told me that is what they saw for me and that’s a role I’m willing to play and want to play. Coach Morris put me in that situation last year and I excelled in it.

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Question: Is that a role you like?

Murray: Yeah, actually it is. I really enjoy penalty killing and I had some great coaching from our assistant Scott Pellerin in how to do it right. I really pride myself in the penalty kill and it is something I had never really done in the past, but it turned into a fun role to play.

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Question: What have the Kings been telling you that you need to do to get to the next level and stick?

Murray: I think I need to play with a little more edge to my game, and as you said, I’m not the biggest guy and in order to play the role I’m supposed to I’m going to need to bulk up, get a little strength, put on a little weight. All those little things I’m working on this summer.

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Question: You were on the ice this morning. Tell me a little about what you were working on.

Murray: Right now I’m not doing a whole lot of skating. I’m mostly just shooting a lot of pucks. There are about three or four other guys that are there and we just skate around a little bit and shoot quite a bit.

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Question: What are the keys to winning a face off?

Murray: You know last summer I had no idea how to win a draw (laughs). But Derek Armstrong and Michal Handzus took me under their wing and showed me the way. Basically the problem I was having is that when they would drop the puck I would never watch it. I just didn’t have my eye on the puck, and that was one thing I really needed to work on. You just have to time it, and you have to make sure your whole blade is on the ice.

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Question: So you were mostly just reacting to the other guy’s motion on the draw?

Murray: Yeah, that is part of it though because you do need to get a read on what the other guy is doing, but I wasn’t even looking at the ref who was dropping the puck (laughs). I was just looking at the circle waiting for the puck, so that was something I had to work on. I played a little bit of center in high school and I played it in college, but I played wing when I was in Europe, so it had been a while since I’d taken a draw. I was just kind of lost at first, but those guys gave me some tips and it definitely paid off.

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Question: You ever find yourself scratching your head when you get tossed out of the face off circle?

Murray: Yeah, but you do what you have to do to get an edge. You may have to cheat a bit (laughs). It is something every player does.

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Question: You’ve attended prospect camps for a number of years now. How has that helped to develop your overall game?

Murray: I’ve been coming to the Kings’ rookie camps for a long time since my dad was there, I think since I was 15 years old, and I’m 23 now, so getting that early exposure and going up against NHL players and seeing what it takes really helped me a lot.

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Question: How about all of the different places you grew up. Did all of the different styles of hockey help to shape your game?

Murray: I don’t know if it did as much as you might think. One thing it did do was, obviously my dad is a coach so whenever his team did skate I got the chance to get out there too and meet some players and that helped me in the long run.

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Question: You’ll be 24 in August so I’m wondering if you are thinking that this is your make or break camp in terms of making the NHL on a permanent basis.

Murray: Yeah, I think so. I’m getting to that age where you stop considering me a prospect. I’m looking at this summer and this camp as a time when I have to really step up. I think I had a really good camp last year and a chance to crack the squad and I think come this year’s camp I have to do the same thing. I have a lot to prove. I have to come in to camp in great shape, show them what I can do and have a chip on my shoulder.

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Question: You seem like a pretty competitive guy.

Murray: Oh yeah.

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Question: Is that a learned quality or is that something you get from your dad?

Murray: It’s from my dad, and my dad got it from his brothers and from his dad and it definitely got passed down. My sister and my brother both play hockey too, and they are both highly competitive too.

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Question: How competitive is your dad?

Murray: He’s a real competitor. He’s the most intense guy I know.

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Question: There must be a cool Murray family story about this famous competitiveness.

Murray: Wow, I can’t think of one off the top of my head. There’s just so many. Even in just the little things, like we were playing Bocce Ball in the backyard and we got in a big fight over it (laughs).

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Question: How strange was it for you when Andy got fired two years ago?

Murray: Well when I heard the news that my dad had been fired I was pretty upset for him. For me it was really kind of a blessing in disguise. When I got drafted by the Kings it was a great day, but I knew everyone would be looking at me thinking that the only reason I got drafted was because of my father. That kind of bothered me. I obviously felt bad that he was no longer a part of the organization, but now nobody could say that I was here because of him and I could make a name for myself in the Kings organization.