-By Don Kleep
He’s polite and soft spoken. At 5’9” and 170 pounds, he doesn’t look like an imposing hockey player. But don’t be deceived – Kyle Murphy is determined, tough, and tenacious, just what the Vipers need as they try to replace the Jones twins and other spirited players from last year’s championship team.
The 20-year old from Fairhaven, New Jersey comes to the Vipers after spending two years at the famed University of Notre Dame. He was recruited by the Fighting Irish out of the Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school. He recollects that “the Irish said they were short of forwards, so they wanted me to come directly from high school.”
He didn’t get any playing time his first year, and just 17 games his second year at Notre Dame.
Kyle now admits that, “looking back at it, it probably would have been a good decision to play a year of juniors before going to college. Still, I had two good years at a really good university. I had a lot of fun there, and did fine in my business studies. School is tough – it takes up a lot of your time – but Notre Dame is a special place, a great campus. It’s not really a big school, so you get to meet a lot of people and you’re not overwhelmed.”
Wanting to develop more as a hockey player, he decided to change venues before his junior eligibility expired. A training partner in Boston who recommended the Vipers told Kyle that Vernon has “the best coaches and the best organization in junior ‘A’ hockey.”
Kyle has played the wing but he prefers centre – “I seem to see the ice a little better at centre,” he says. He prides himself on his defence and on winning faceoffs. He further describes himself as “a hard-nosed player. I like to get in there and muck it up, especially around the net. The last few years, I’ve done a lot of off-season work to be strong enough to take the pounding in front of the goal.”
We’ve certainly seen that trait in Kyle’s play in the scrimmages and Blue-White games. On one shift during a spirited informal scrimmage at the Priest Valley rink, he scored three times on scrambles around the net. And he scored the winning goal in the Vipers’ 4-3 exhibition win over the Trail Smoke Eaters on August 28.
He plans to return to NCAA hockey next year, but in order to be eligible he has to meet the rigorous 4-2-4 conditions imposed by the National Collegiate Athletics Association. He will complete a minimum of eight university classes offered by a two-year college over the next several months and he will combine those classes with the 20 courses completed at Notre Dame to earn an Associate degree in Business Management from Central Texas College, one of the largest providers of online degrees.
“It’s going to be a bit of a grind,” he admits, “but I hear that you had a player who managed it last year. I’m used to working hard at my studies, so I’m looking forward to learning more about business and related subject
