KALAMAZOO, MI – His Western Michigan University hockey team is on a five-game winning streak, but Andy Murray said he had a tough time sleeping Sunday night as fears of losing would not leave his mind.

It’s the same fear Murray brought to Kalamazoo after years of coaching in the NHL and one he expresses occasionally in postgame interviews after a victory.

“I’m always worried that unless we win the next game we’ll never win another one – that we could go 0-22 the rest of the way,” the second-year college coach said after Monday’s practice. “I had a tough time sleeping (Sunday) night thinking about that. I don’t have much time to think about where we’re at. I’m just worried about where we’re going.”

There’s some coachspeak in there, but it’s not as much of a smoke screen as it is one of many clever ways Murray gets his messages across to the media and to his team.

Murray is full of intuitive idioms, some that often take reporters a few seconds to comprehend, and he’s full of ways to garner support from fans and respect from his players while eating at the nerves of officials and opposing teams.

There’s good reason to believe Murray is genuinely mad at a member of an officiating crew when the 61-year-old climbs up on the ledge of his team’s bench, just one wrong sway from slipping and falling face first onto the ice, and offers up his two cents to officials in a manner that turns his face a stop-sign red hue.

However, there are reasons behind Murray’s tirades that often bring about an “ANDY MURRAY” chant from the student section.

Look no further than this past Saturday’s game against Ferris State for proof.

The Bulldogs were physically pounding the Broncos the entire game and were in complete control of the game with a 1-0 lead. During a stoppage in play, Murray climbed onto the ledge and gave the officials a piece of his mind. It gave WMU an unofficial timeout to get a breather and eventually led to new players being allowed on the ice for an important face off.

Western Michigan scored two goals in the final four minutes of the game to defeat FSU 2-1.

Murray’s loud coaching style is complemented by subtle strategic moves, be it a time out mid-power play to make an adjustment that led to a goal right after, or a late-game line change that played a role in tying the score against Ferris State Saturday.

So far, his methods have worked.

In fewer than two years, Murray has taken a program revived by former coach Jeff Blashill and continued to build it into a program it needs to be if WMU is to compete for conference titles when it joins some of college hockey’s big boys next year in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

Murray led the Broncos to the program’s first Central Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament championship in 25 years last season.

He and fellow assistant coaches Pat Ferschweiler, Rob Facca and Bob Caldwell currently have the team on a Division I-best five-game winning streak, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since the 2006-07 season.

The Broncos have been nationally ranked all season and enter this weekend's series at the University of Michigan at No. 7 in both major polls.



After a win, Murray will gladly talk about the large crowds at Lawson Ice Arena, which have been sellouts for all five CCHA games this season, but he doesn’t like elaborating on how his team played in a victory.

The veteran coach especially despises the term momentum.

Do not ask him about momentum after a victory. He will politely tell you he doesn’t believe in it and will remind you of the fact if you happen to forget and ask again after a game. It’s usually accompanied by a playful remark in front of other reporters.

Western Michigan (10-3-2, 7-2-1 CCHA) won’t win every remaining game and Murray knows that, but he wants his team to fear losing as much as he does.

Murray demands a lot out of his players both on and off the ice. When a player isn’t competing at the expected level, a message is sent from the coaching staff.

When a player doesn’t meet expectations off the ice, the message is sent. Junior forward Shane Berschbach, the team’s second-leading scorer last season, was suspended the first five games of this season for violating team rules.

Murray does his best to take care of players. He put his strong ties in the hockey community, both nationally and internationally, to work, as he did his best to make sure all five seniors from last year had a chance to play professionally.

Andy Murray's once blonde hair might be graying, but his coaching skills are not. This program has plenty of momentum, err, good things happening to feel good about what lies ahead.

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Email David Drew at ddrew1@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/Drew_on_WMU