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Murray Oliver
Hamilton-born center amassed 728 points in 1127 games When Murray Oliver was traded from the Boston Bruins to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Eddie Shack, there was speculation that Oliver, a Hamilton native, would have problems replacing the flamboyant Shack. But as he skated for the Leafs in his ninth full NHL season in 1968, Leaf coach Punch Imlach was pleased with the center’s performance. “He’s simply performing as we expected,” said the fabled Leaf coach in January of 1968. “He’s playing the way we knew he could play when we traded for him.” Oliver’s duties with the Leafs were divided with the “POE” (Pulford-Oliver-Ellis) and “POP” (Pulford-Oliver-Pappin) lines, and he was adept at killing penalties. In 10 games teaming with Pulford during that season, they managed to kill nine of 10 penalties without being scored upon. Born in Hamilton in 1937, Oliver started his hockey career with the Burlington Junior Bees in 1953, but soon went to the Hamilton Tiger Cubs, the OHA Junior club of the parent Detroit Red Wings. After five seasons, he played one game when called up to the Red Wings in 1958, and was sent to play with the Edmonton Flyers of the Western Hockey League (WHL). It was there that Oliver showed his talent, scoring 33 goals along with 34 assists to become the WHL’s MVP for the 1958 season. A newspaper report of November 24, 1958 highlighted his accomplishments: “Murray Oliver, former star in the Ontario junior A ranks, scored four goals last night in leading Edmonton Flyers to a 5-2 victory over Seattle Totems in a Western League Hockey game. “It was his biggest scoring splurge since joining Flyers this season from Hamilton Cubs of the Ontario Hockey Association. He gave Flyers a 2-0 lead in the first period and added the final two goals in the windup session.” Oliver returned to Detroit and played with the Red Wings, scoring 20 goals in the 1959-60 season. He also played 16 games for the Flyers. He was then traded to Boston, and went on to three straight 20-goal seasons in the early 1960s before the trade to the Leafs in 1967. After three years with the Leafs, Oliver packed up and moved from his Oakville home to play with the newly-formed Minnesota North Stars. During his five years of play there, he recorded his best major-league record with 27 goals for the 1971-72 season. After a contract dispute with the North Stars in 1975, Oliver stayed with the team as assistant coach for several years, finally leaving in 1988. He went to scout for the Vancouver Canucks, and then became that team’s director of scouting. During his off time while with Hamilton, Oliver continued to work with wood, but traded his skates and stick in for a hammer and saw as a carpenter. And while playing in Boston, he studied Business Administration courses at Boston University. During his long career of 18 NHL seasons,
Oliver amassed 728 points in 1127 regular season games with 274
goals and 454 assists. He also played in the league’s All-Star
game in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, and 1968.
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