Flames GM Brad Treliving addresses hiring of former Ducks GM Bob Murray
By Ryan Pike
2 years agoBack in November, the Anaheim Ducks announced that general manager Bob Murray had resigned from the hockey club following an investigation into Murray’s conduct with the club. On Tuesday, just shy of four months later, The Athletic’s Eric Stephens reported that Murray had resurfaced in a pro scouting role with the Calgary Flames.
Over at Daily Faceoff, our colleague Scott Burnside summarized the events that led to Murray’s departure from Anaheim:
The resignation was the result of an investigation by an outside law firm hired by the Ducks into abusive and toxic behavior by Murray within the Ducks’ organization. The investigation was prompted by calls to an anonymous hotline set up by the NHL to give employees of the league and its members clubs at all levels a safe forum for reporting incidents of abuse or improper behavior. It did not take long for the outside law firm to find enough evidence to know that Murray could no longer remain in his post.One anonymous Ducks source told Daily Faceoff‘s Frank Seravalli: “Working for Bob Murray was pure daily mental warfare. The abuse was endless. Crazy text messages to players and staff berating them for their performance and threats of job security happened with regularity. These weren’t one-time slip-ups or mistakes. These were regular explosions and eruptions.”
At the time of his resignation from the Ducks organization, Murray issued a statement indicating he would be entering a rehabilitation program for alcohol abuse.
Given the nature of the conduct that led to Murray’s departure, and the recentness of that departure, Burnside connected with Treliving on Wednesday to discuss the circumstances surrounding Murray joining the Flames organization. (The full piece is available over at Daily Faceoff.)
As much as Treliving believes that Murray and his experience can help the Flames, “I think we can help him as well.”Cynics, of course, will suggest that this is another illustration of hockey’s old boys’ network at work and that there will always be a place at the table as long as you are part of that club – no matter what you’ve done.But Treliving believes strongly in the league’s efforts to provide a safe and welcoming work place around the NHL including the hotline. And he doesn’t believe hiring Murray is in any way contradictory.“I’m proud of the working environment we have here,” he said. “We know what is not going to be tolerated here and Bob is very comfortable with that.”
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