Photo Credit - Pederson Photographic
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If Madden Murray's performance at the JoFo Cup was any indication of how his season would go, big things were on the way. Murray scored twice in the game and he followed that up by suiting up in a pair of preseason games with the Kings.
While Madden intends to continue practicing with the team every day, he's back playing with the Parkland U18 Rangers and what a start he is off to. As the team opened their season against the Winnipeg Wild on Saturday, Murray scored twice in the team's tough defeat. His second goal was a highlight reel marker as he went coast-to-coast and made a nice move past a Wild defender and then capped the rush off by going bar down.
Then on Sunday afternoon, Murray was at it again as he scored two more goals in a very tight defeat against the Wild. He had another highlight reel goal as he once again went coast-to-coast and tucked the puck just under the bar on a shot from the left goal line. Madden now leads the league in goal scoring after one weekend of the season. Six other skaters have three goals, Madden is the only one with four.
"I feel really fast, I feel like I was the fastest player on the ice," said Murray. "We struggled in the first game. But we came back in the second game and put forth a pretty good effort and kept it close with Winnipeg."
Murray says practicing with the Kings has been great and it has brought up his compete level. Known for his great speed and high-level skill, Murray is tough to get off the puck and if he goes 1-on-1 with a defender, he continues to prove that he can win the race and produce.
The club has also announced their leadership group for the season with Bo Eisner being named the team's captain. Murray; meanwhile, will serve as one of the team's assistant captains alongside Dru Mushumanski, Jackson Badowski, Sam Swanton, Skyler Carriere, and Kyler Swanton. Murray says being a part of the leadership group is a special feeling.
"I've never been part of a leadership group in recent years so it's a pretty cool feeling," said Murray. "I maybe was in like atom but I haven't sniffed it since then so I'm very happy about it."
Parkland will now hit the ice for practices on Tuesday and Thursday before hitting the road for a pair of games next weekend in Teulon. Friday's game against Interlake is slated for 7:30 and the two teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
That's followed up with a game next Wednesday in Brandon, a pair of games in Thompson against Norman before rounding out a seven-game road trip with two games in Winnipeg against the Bruins. Parkland's next home game is Tuesday, October 25 when the Wheat Kings are in town.
"I believe we are a playoff team, we just have to keep improving every practice and game," said Murray. "We have a lot of big strong forwards that have a lot of skill. We're all looking forward to getting back on the ice against Interlake, it should be a good test for us."
