Red Wings summer development camp invite Connor Murphy spoke with the Daily Gazette a couple of weeks ago regarding his lessons learned at the Wings’ development camp. This evening, the 23-year-old goaltender from Hudson Falls, New York spoke with the Glenns Falls Post-Star’s Pete Tobey about taking part in the Wings’ camp as well:
Connor Murphy may not know exactly what he wants to do with his eventual degree in economics, but he definitely knows what he wants after Union College: a shot at playing professional hockey.
Earlier this month, the incoming senior goalie got a sneak peek at pro hockey when he was invited to the Detroit Red Wings’ development camp in Detroit. On top of improving his goaltending skills, Murphy said he learned a lot about how pro athletes take care of their bodies before and after games and workouts.
“It was obviously a big honor just to be invited to the camp,” Murphy, a 23-year-old Hudson Falls native, said in a phone interview Friday. “It was a really big learning experience. I learned how to do the things professional players do to prepare, recover and eat right. That was the big takeaway for me, and how I can incorporate that into my game now.”
At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, Murphy presents an imposing figure in goal. Last season — his first at Union after transferring from Northeastern University — he racked up a 14-18-3 record, with a 2.66 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. His 1,060 saves set a Dutchmen single-season record.
One area Murphy said he’s working on is reading how plays are developing in front of him, and keeping an awareness of where he is in the crease.
“I’m working on controlling my depth — when a play is coming in, I tend to get a little bit aggressive and I get out too far in the crease,” he said. “I’m learning to sit back a little more and control where I can get across if there’s a pass. I’m learning to read the play better, get my eyes on the puck first and see where they’re going, turning my head quicker — little details to tune up. As long as I can get those things dialed in, I’ll be pretty good, but there’s always things to work on.”
Continued; I’m not sure whether the big goaltender will have pro aspirations unless he delivers a superb senior season at Union College, but he’s massive at 6’4″ and 201 pounds, and he may have had the best fundamentals of any of the goaltenders who was in camp–he was just a little slow and lumbering.
If he takes the lessons that Wings goalie coach Phil Osaer and the coaching staff imparted upon him, and executes them successfully, he may yet impress a professional team.
