Murray Craven doesn’t have an official title with the Las Vegas NHL team but that’s because he doesn’t have one specific role in one specific area.

He’s helping the team design their locker room. He’s working on the Summerlin-area construction of the practice facility, which also includes the team’s office space. He guided billionaire owner Bill Foley to hire George McPhee as the team’s general manager.

“At this point I just do the work,” said Craven who played 1,071 games in his NHL career between the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. “I know what’s out there. I know what needs to be done and that’s what I do.”

The 52-year-old Craven is a living, walking embodiment that timing can help in the successes of life. If he hadn’t met Foley while playing golf in Whitefish, Montana in the early part of last decade, he may not have had this opportunity – to help mold and create the first major pro sports team in Las Vegas.

But his ability to successfully do his job is more than just luck. Through those trips to the golf course and personal time with Foley the two have built up a level of trust and understanding where Craven has quickly become one of the few people who can help build this team in Foley’s image.

Because Craven didn’t want to go strictly into hockey after he retired, commercial real estate and construction opportunities made him more well-rounded for this moment.

“What I do see is yes, am I fortunate to be in the right place at the right time? No doubt I’m fortunate,” Craven said. “Do I apologize for that? Not a bit. I was in the right place in the right time but what I’m doing? I’m much better prepared than I would have been 10 years ago. I’ve had some businesses. I’ve gone through some of the trials and tribulations. I’ve gone through some failures and some successes from hockey and I’m smarter for it than I would have been coming out as a 37-year-old guy who left the game and moved right into management. I have a different perspective now.”

When Craven was younger, he and his family would go to Whitefish for one week in the winter and one week in the summer.

The place became special to Craven mostly because, “It was the only place we ever went.”

When he started his NHL career and it became financially possible for him to purchase an offseason home, the choice was easy. The Medicine Hat, Alberta native could have either worked on a ranch with his family or found his own place where he could relax his body and enjoy the scenery. In 1991 he purchased a home in Whitefish.

“It had been my offseason home for about nine years because my last year was 2000. That was the timeframe where I kind of established some roots,” Craven said. “When I was done playing in San Jose, it was easy. I went back for the summer time and never left.”

After he finished playing, Craven took a player development job with the Sharks for one year. He would go to the team’s top minor league affiliate in Cleveland on a monthly basis, but always had different matters on his mind.

“I was in a precarious place in my life because I had a young family but we just had a child born, so I had a baby, a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, and I know the path of staying in the game,” Craven said. “I knew that was going to entail a lot of movement on my part and I really wasn’t – it really didn’t appeal to me at that point because of where I was in my family life at the time with my children.”

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So Craven returned to Whitefish where he immersed himself in several local opportunities such as commercial real estate and construction. He also got to see his family grow up, which was important in his life at that time.

He never stayed completely out of the game and often conversed with some of his friends who were involved in the sport. He said two of his best friends are Detroit Red Wings assistant coach Doug Houda and Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Rick Tocchet. But at the time he had different passions he needed to pursue.

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