Welcome to the NHL

Three players — Drew Doughty, Oscar Moller and Wayne Simmonds — are expected to make their NHL debut tomorrow when the Kings open their season in San Jose. Terry Murray talked about what they should expect and shared some memories from his NHL debut…

Question: You have three guys playing their first NHL game tomorrow. Any particular message to those guys?

MURRAY: “Well, we’ll talk about that in our team meeting, what we, as a team, need to be ready for. We were fortunate to be able to play San Jose in a game near the end of training camp, so we saw most of what their lineup would be. They were missing a couple players. But we all know that once you get into the real deal, that the intensity and the competitiveness go to another level. So being ready for that is most important for the young players who are going to be in a game for the first time. There’s going to be a lot of pressure. (The Sharks) are very aggressive on the forecheck team and they come at you with a lot of speed and a lot of pressure. So they have to be ready emotionally and mentally, physically be prepared for a hard battle.”

Question: Do you remember your first game?

MURRAY: “I sure do. Minnesota North Stars vs. Oakland Seals. I took it end to end a couple times but it just wouldn’t go in for some reason. (laughs) It was fun. It’s pretty exciting. The adrenaline is going, the energy is high and you’re really looking forward to getting your pro career underway. So I’m sure it’s a very exciting day for these young guys, just waiting for tomorrow to come and the drop of the puck.”

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email