Ex-Las Vegas Thunder GM Bob Strumm recalls late Capitals coach

Depending on how the puck bounces over the the next few days, it’s conceivable the worst NHL expansion team of all time could face off against the best in the Stanley Cup Final.

If it turns out to be the Washington Capitals against the Golden Knights, former Las Vegas Thunder general manager and longtime Las Vegan Bob Strumm will be pulling for Vegas. He also will be thinking of his pal Bryan Murray, the former Capitals coach who died just before the 2017-18 season after a long battle with colon cancer.

The 1974-75 Capitals went 8-67-5 and continued to struggle until Murray was promoted to coach midway through the 1981-82 season. He guided the Capitals to the playoffs in each of his seven years in D.C. and received the Jack Adams Award, emblematic of NHL Coach of the Year, in 1984.

Murray had worked as a gym teacher and was running a hotel in his hometown of Shawville, Quebec, when Strumm talked him into coaching the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, where Strumm was general manager. It turned out to be a springboard job that would catapult Murray into the Capitals’ coach within two seasons.

“He was only there one year, but we won the championship,” Strumm recalled after the Thunder were inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame as a unit on May 11 at Orleans Arena.

Although the hockey men parted ways and achieved success on different levels, they remained close friends until the day Murray died.

Murray’s coaching record over 17 seasons with the Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators was 620-465-131, and he was just as respected as general manager of the Ducks, Panthers, Red Wings and Senators.

And he never forgot an old friend.

During the opening week of the 1984 season, before directing the Capitals to a victory over Calgary, Murray became the godfather of Strumm’s son.

Robert Bryan Murray Strumm is now a scout for — you guessed it — the Capitals, and his father couldn’t be more proud.

Knights wing-ding

This really happened:

Because my usual Knights parking place at the Tropicana was occupied by electric daisies or whatever, I tried the garage at Hooters Hotel before Game 4 of the Knights-Jets series, only to be rebuffed at the door.

“Whaddya’ here for?” asked the attendant.

Fearing there was no way he was going to allow those going to the game to slide in, fast thinking was required.

“Chicken wings,” I said.

“Sorry,” the attendant said. “I’m under strict orders to only allow Knights fans to park here. You local?”

“Yup,” I said.

“Let’s see if we can circumvent this: “Who won Game 3, and what was the score?”

“Knights, 4-2. Empty-netter by Marchessault …”

Before I could give him the time of the goal, the attendant waved me in.

Taking flying leaps

Extreme sports guy nonpareil Travis Pastrana will honor daredevil extraordinaire Evel Knievel by attempting three of his most dangerous jumps in Las Vegas on July 8 for the History channel.

Riding a motorcycle patterned after Knievel’s, Pastrana will attempt to jump over 50 cars, 14 buses and the fountain at Caesars Palace, where Knievel crashed and almost lost his life.

According to the news release, if Pastrana survives the jumps, “he will be the only person to successfully beat two of Knievel’s distance records and land a jump over the fountain on a v-twin motorcycle.”

The jumps come within a degree of difficulty that even Knievel might have found daunting: Because it is live TV, all are scheduled within a three-hour time frame.

0:01

There are many reasons to admire Sam Schmidt, the quadriplegic auto racing team owner from Henderson, not the least of which is his willingness to tackle and overcome obstacles with a self-deprecating wit.

He has started answering email using voice recognition software. On Thursday, he even attached a couple of photos from Indianapolis 500 practice to a message confirming his support of the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup playoff run.

“I apologize for any mistakes, as no fingers were utilized in the typing of this message,” Schmidt wrote.

There was no need to apologize, as there weren’t any mistakes.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.