Report: Pens’ Murray strikes up a friendship with bitter rival

Wait a second… aren’t these guys supposed to hate each other?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Report: Pens’ Murray strikes up a friendship with bitter rival
Keystone Press

The fairy tale start to Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray’s NHL career is one that any goaltender should hope to emulate. In just two seasons the 23-year-old goaltender has managed to put together stellar performances and push his team to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. This past June’s championship was particularly sweet given that Murray and the Pens managed to push past their bitter rivals the Washington Capitals along the way. 

Except, maybe the teams aren’t quite as bitter and angry at each other as fans would like to believe. Well at least we now know the goaltenders certainly aren’t. In his latest column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Penguins beat writer Jason Mackey caught up with Murray in his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario where the Pens starter spoke glowingly of Capitals netminder Braden Holtby

Check it out:

He recently struck up a friendship with Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, also one of the NHL’s best dressed — “You could tell he’s a guy who pays attention to his fashion,” Murray said.
Though Holtby plays for a rival, Murray said he has long been one of his “idols” and a goaltender he hopes to emulate in terms of personal success and longevity in the NHL.
The irony is Holtby probably idolizes Murray for the team success he’s enjoyed, but Murray doesn’t think like that. He doesn’t consider himself a big deal.

That’s interesting. It’s not usual for a player to reveal these sorts of things, but Murray is definitely a different kind of guy. In fact, Holtby is as well. Maybe… maybe it’s a goalie thing? They’re just weird to begin with…


Source: Jason Mackey