Matt Murley
Matt Murley | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 17, 1979 United States |
| Occupation(s) | Ice hockey player (retired), sports betting analyst |
| Known for | Playing in the NHL for Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes; analyst on Barstool Sports' hockey podcasts Spittin' Chiclets and Chiclets Game Notes |
Matt Murley (born December 17, 1979) is a retired American professional ice hockey forward who competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes. Presently, he works as a sports betting analyst on Barstool Sports' hockey podcast, Spittin' Chiclets, and regularly features on its derivative podcast Chiclets Game Notes alongside former teammate Colby Armstrong.
Playing career
Murley spent four years playing collegiate hockey at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Selected 51st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, he entered the Penguins organization in 2002. Initially, he played for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, before making his NHL debut in the 2003–04 season.
In 2006, Murley signed with the Colorado Avalanche as a free agent but spent that season with their AHL team, the Albany River Rats. The following year, he inked a one-year deal with the Phoenix Coyotes, dividing his time between Phoenix and their AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. Afterward, Murley agreed to terms with the Carolina Hurricanes but chose to play for Khabarovsk Amur in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) rather than report to Carolina’s AHL affiliate.
Murley also competed extensively in European leagues. He signed with SC Langenthal in Switzerland’s National League B and subsequently played for HC Lugano and the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in Switzerland’s premier National League A. In Sweden’s top-tier Swedish Elite League (SEL), he had brief stints with Linköpings HC and Timrå IK, extending his tenure with Timrå IK through the 2011-12 season due to his adaptability and team fit.
In 2013, as a free agent, Murley joined KHL Medveščak Zagreb from Croatia and then spent the next season with HC Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. For the 2015-16 campaign, he moved to Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), signing with the Nürnberg Ice Tigers. After departing Nürnberg in 2016, Murley continued his career in Asia by joining Japan’s Oji Eagles and later concluded his professional playing days with South Korea’s Daemyung Killer Whales in the Asian League.
After a retirement lasting two and a half years, Murley made a comeback to professional hockey to complete the 2021-22 season with Kovlands Ishockeyförening competing in Sweden’s second division.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996–97 | Syracuse Jr. Crunch | MetJHL | 48 | 52 | 58 | 110 | 111 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Syracuse Jr. Crunch | MetJHL | 49 | 56 | 70 | 126 | 203 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 36 | 17 | 32 | 49 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 35 | 9 | 29 | 38 | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 34 | 24 | 18 | 42 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | R.P.I. | ECAC | 32 | 24 | 22 | 46 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 73 | 21 | 37 | 58 | 45 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 | ||
| 2003–04 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 63 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 69 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 17 | ||
| 2004–05 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 80 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 55 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 41 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 61 | 23 | 32 | 55 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2007–08 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | "76" | 21 | 41 | 62 | 43 | "7" | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | ||
| "2007–08 NHL season" | "Phoenix Coyotes" | "NHL" | "3" | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
| "2008–09 KHL season" | "Amur Khabarovsk" | "Kontinental Hockey League" | "33" | 4 | 4 | 8 | 28 | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
| "2009–10" | "SC Langenthal" | "National League B" | "22" | 8 | 15 | 23 | 18 | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
| "2009–10 NLA season" | "HC Lugano" | "National League A" | 1 |1 |2 |4 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2009–10" | "Rapperswil-Jona Lakers" | "NLA" | 6 |6 |12 |8 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2010–11 Elitserien season" | "Linköpings HC" | "Swedish Hockey League" | 3 |5 |8 |0 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2010–11" | "Timrå IK" | "SEL" | 9 |6 |15 |36 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2011–12 Elitserien season" | "Timrå IK" | "SEL" | 15 |16 |31 |16 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2012–13 Elitserien season" | "Timrå IK" | "SEL" | 5 |8 |13 |22 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2013–14 KHL season" | "KHL Medveščak Zagreb" | "KHL" | 16 |20 |36 |6 | 1 |1 |2 |2 | ||||||||||
| "2014–15 KHL season" | "HC Slovan Bratislava" | "KHL" | 11 |13 |24 |75 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2015–16 DEL season" | "Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers" | "Deutsche Eishockey Liga" | 9 |16 |25 |26 | 2 |1 |3 |8 | ||||||||||
| "2016–17 Asia League Ice Hockey season" | "Oji Eagles" | "AL" | 19 |44 |63 |30 | 1 |1 |2 |0 | ||||||||||
| "2017–18 Asia League Ice Hockey season" | "Daemyung Killer Whales" | "AL" | 13 |24 |37 |16 | "—"| "—"| "—"| "—" | ||||||||||
| "2018–19 Asia League Ice Hockey season " | 'Daemyung Killer Whales' | 'AL' | '7'|'7'|'14'|'16' | '0'|'2'|'2'|'0' | ||||||||||
| NHL totals | 62 | 2 | 7 | 9 | ||||||||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| College | ||
| ECAC Hockey Rookie Team | 1998–99 | |
| ECAC Hockey First Team | 2001–02 | |
| AHCA East Second-Team All-American | 2001–02 | |
| ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team | 2002 | |
| AHL | ||
| AHL All-Star Game | 2004 | |