Sources: Ducks GM Bob Murray placed on leave for ‘mental warfare,’ verbal abuse

The Anaheim Ducks placed executive vice president and general manager Bob Murray on administrative leave on Tuesday after initial findings from an internal review and independent investigation for “improper professional conduct” warranted his immediate removal from the team.

Murray, 66, has been employed by the Ducks since 2005 and is the third-longest tenured GM in the NHL behind only Nashville’s David Poile and San Jose’s Doug Wilson.

The Ducks said in a statement the team “recently” became aware of the accusations and after internal review, enlisted Los Angeles-based law firm Sheppard Mullin to conduct an independent investigation.

“Upon recommendation from their initial findings, we have decided to place Bob on administrative leave pending final results,” the statement read.

The Ducks are expected to be in receipt of additional findings in the coming days, according to sources. Murray was with the Ducks in Vancouver on Tuesday when the news was delivered, he was to return home to Anaheim on his his own.

Multiple league and team sources tell Daily Faceoff that Murray is under investigation for allegations of creating a toxic workplace environment by way of his repeated verbal abuse and harassment of Ducks players, coaches and personnel, plus his intimidation tactics and temper tantrums that fostered a culture of fear throughout the organization.

“Working for Bob Murray was pure daily mental warfare,” one source said. “The abuse was endless. Crazy text messages to players and staff berating them for their performance and threats of job security happened with regularity. These weren’t one-time slip-ups or mistakes. These were regular explosions and eruptions.”

It is unclear how or why Murray’s behavior went unchecked for so long, given that so many people associated with the Ducks organization bore witness to it. This season marks Murray’s 45th consecutive year in the NHL; Murray was promoted to Ducks GM on Nov. 12, 2008.

Another source said: “There’s not just one skeleton in the closet here with ‘Murph,'” as Murray is known by his nickname around the NHL. “The list of people who have felt his wrath first-hand over the years is long.”

The Ducks named Jeff Solomon as interim GM on Tuesday afternoon in Murray’s place. Soloman was hired in Anaheim this past offseason from the rival Los Angeles Kings as vice president of hockey operations and assistant GM.

Murray was hired in Anaheim by then-GM Brian Burke in July 2005 as senior vice president of hockey operations. He was then promoted to general manager in 2008 by owners Henry and Susan Samueli, when Burke vacated his post mid-season to join Toronto. Under Murray’s watch, the Ducks advanced to two Western Conference finals (2015 and 2017), won five division titles and qualified for the playoffs eight times in a 10-year stretch before entering a rebuild over the last three campaigns.

Prior to 2005, Murray spent six years as scout with the Vancouver Canucks (1999-2005) and was the Chicago Blackhawks’ GM for parts of three seasons from 1997 to 1999.

Murray spent 25 years in the Chicago organization, including his front office tenure, where he played all 1,008 of his NHL regular season games roaming the Blackhawks’ blue line.

Murray’s investigation was announced exactly two weeks to the day after the Blackhawks’ cover-up of the 2010 sexual assault for former player Kyle Beach by then-video coach Brad Aldrich resulted in executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac, as well as former head coach Joel Quenneville, losing their jobs.

On Oct. 27, 2021, one day after the Blackhawks’ independent investigation findings were announced, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman sent a memorandum to all 32 front offices reminding all league and club personnel, including players, are required to immediately [NHL memo’s underlined emphasis] report conduct “on or off the ice that is clearly inappropriate, unlawful or demonstrably abusive, or that may violate the league’s policies.”

The NHL solicits anonymous reporting for incidents relating to abuse of influence, aggressive behavior, bullying, harassment, workplace health and safety, intimidation, physical violence and other unethical behavior or misconduct – among a whole host of other racism, domestic violence and sexual assault incidents – via the league’s third party reporting hot line.

Bettman wrote in the memo that the league is committed to having a culture that is safe, inclusive, free from abuse and harassment and all forms of unethical behavior or misconduct – and it would appear that Murray is the first person from outside Chicago’s organization to be under fire as a result of that reporting.