Bryan Murray Bryan Clarence Murray ( born December 5 , 1942 in Shawville , Quebec , Canada ) is a Canadian general manager , and is also a former coach . He is currently the general manager of the National Hockey League ' s Ottawa Senators . He has previously been general manager of the NHL ' s Mighty Ducks of Anaheim , Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings . He was also the head coach of Detroit and was the head coach of the Washington Capitals . In other leagues , he has been head coach of the American Hockey League ' s Hershey Bears and Western Hockey League ' s Regina Pats . Murray was born and raised in the small Ottawa Valley town of Shawville , Quebec , near Ottawa . He played hockey growing up , joining the Shawville Pontiacs intermediate club at age fourteen and later joined the Rockland Nationals of the Central Junior A Hockey League ( CJHL ) . He attended MacDonald College and returned to Shawville and worked as a gym teacher . He then went into business buying a local motel . Bryan began his hockey career as a part time coach with Pembroke of the CJHL . He earned a good reputation as a coach and was offered a job by the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League . He left his business interests in the hands of family members , and moved west . After taking Regina to the Memorial Cup , Murray moved to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League , where he won coach of the year . The next year he became head coach of the Washington Capitals . In seven seasons with Washington , Murray brought the team to the playoffs each year , and won the Jack Adams Award in 1984 . In 1990 , after being replaced by his brother in Washington , Bryan became coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings . The team had mixed results in his four seasons and after he left a team of Ken Holland , Scotty Bowman and Jim Devellano helped turn Detroit from a sagging franchise into the most dominant team of NHL . Murray next was appointed the general manager of the expansion Florida Panthers . In 1996 , the young Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals , and Murray was selected as NHL Executive of the Year . From 2002 – 2004 Murray was general manager of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim , and again saw his team quickly make a mark in the playoffs , reaching the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals . After a disappointing 2003 – 2004 season with the Mighty Ducks , Murray surprised many by deciding to resign from the GM post in Anaheim and move ' home ' to become head coach of the Senators . On February 20 , 2007 , he became the fifth NHL coach to achieve 600 victories , in a shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers . Despite this impressive number of victories ( at the time the most among active National Hockey League coaches ) , he has yet to win a Stanley Cup . In his most recent trip to the Finals as head coach , the Senators team that he coached lost to his former club , the Anaheim Ducks . Murray was promoted to general manager of the Senators on June 18 , 2007 , and assistant coach John Paddock took over the head coach duties . However , on February 27 , 2008 , Murray fired Paddock as head coach of the Senators after the team struggled through January and February , despite a 15 – 2 start . Murray served as head coach for the remainder of the 2007 – 08 season , with the team finishing in seventh place in the Eastern Conference . His team was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins . Craig Hartsburg was hired as the new coach of the team in June 2008 . After struggling for most of the 2008 – 09 NHL season , Bryan Murray fired head coach Craig Hartsburg after a 7 - 4 loss in Washington . In 48 games as head coach of the Ottawa Senators , Hartsburg posted a 17 - 24 - 7 record . Cory Clouston , head coach of the Binghamton Senators was hired as interim head coach . Bryan ' s brother , Terry Murray , is the new coach for the LA Kings .