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Ducks’ Murray takes GM of the Year award

Bob Murray

Anaheim Ducks newly named Executive Vice President & General Manager, Bob Murray, takes questions from the media in Anaheim, Calif. Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. Murray has spent the last three-plus seasons with the Ducks. They have made the playoffs in each of those seasons, including a Stanley Cup title in 2007. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Damian Dovarganes

The 2014 GM of the Year Award went to Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray.

Murray is the fifth winner of the newly established trophy for the top executive in the NHL. He joked that he would easily switch places with Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi, who finished third in voting but whose team happened to win the 2014 Stanley Cup.

Plenty of votes also went to Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin, who rounded out the top three finalists for the award.

The Ducks earned the most standings points in the Western Conference and the second-most in the NHL overall with 116. They went 54-20-8. The Kings ousted them in the second round of the postseason, but voting is only based on the regular season.

Murray made some bold moves over the last season-and-change, sending Bobby Ryan out of town and acquiring Mathieu Perreault via trades. He managed to bring back Teemu Selanne, yet his best work might be in developing the Ducks’ promising group of prospects. Kyle Palmieri, John Gibson and Frederik Andersen rank among young players who are already showing promise in the present and may only get better in the future.

Naturally, this award is also based on cumulative work, and hiring Bruce Boudreau in 2011 is clearly paying off.

Here are the voting results:

Pts. (1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Bob Murray, ANA 66 (9-6-3)
2. Marc Bergevin, MTL 49 (7-4-2)
3. Dean Lombardi, LA 33 (3-4-6)
4. Stan Bowman, CHI 29 (3-4-2)
5. Jim Nill, DAL 27 (4-0-7)
6. Peter Chiarelli, BOS 23 (2-3-4)
7. Chuck Fletcher, MIN 21 (2-3-2)
8. Steve Yzerman, TB 19 (2-2-3)
9. Ken Holland, DET 14 (1-3-0)
10. Greg Sherman, COL 10 (2-0-0)
11. Glen Sather, NYR 9 (0-2-3)
12. Jarmo Kekalainen, CBJ 8 (0-2-2)
13. Doug Armstrong, STL 6 (0-2-0)
14. Dale Tallon, FLA 1 (0-0-1)

Here are the five all-time winners:

Year Winner Team
2014 Bob Murray Anaheim
2013 Ray Shero Pittsburgh
2012 Doug Armstrong St. Louis
2011 Mike Gillis Vancouver
2010 Don Maloney Phoenix

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins