'I honestly think I blacked out,' says Murray on Cup victory

THUNDER BAY – Matt Murray says he can barely remember lifting the Stanley Cup over his head after his Pittsburgh Penguins captured Hockey’s Holy Grail in San Jose last month.

It was a surreal moment said the first-year goaltender, thrust into the playoff spotlight when starter Marc-Andre Fleury went down, who then went on to win 15 games during the Penguins championship run, tying a rookie record.

“I honestly think I blacked out,” the Thunder Bay native said, reached by phone on Monday, after spending a week in Mexico to unwind following a whirlwind six-month stretch that saw him play his first NHL game on Dec. 19, a 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I think I did a quick little lap with it and that was it. When the guys were yelling at me saying it’s my turn to go next, I was so giddy and so excited that I can’t honestly remember much about it. It feels like it’s untouchable when you grow up. It’s the hardest trophy in sports to win and now I know first-hand what that means.”

And yet weeks later, it still really hasn’t clicked in what he and his teammates accomplished. 

“It’s a hard thing to grasp, and I can’t really say I’ve had that moment yet.”

That moment might come on July 19, when Murray has his day with the Stanley Cup, a hockey tradition that allows players and coaches to parade the famous trophy around their hometowns and celebrate privately with family and friends.

Murray said like Eric and Jordan Staal and Patrick Sharp before him, he plans to host a public celebration that morning, likely at Fort William Gardens.

The details and fine print are still being worked out.

It’s important, he said.

“I know how I felt when I was a kid about the Cup so I want kids and families to come and see it and take pictures and whatnot,” Murray said. “It’ll be a fun day, for sure, and a day I’m looking forward to sharing with the whole city.”

To most hockey fans, Murray, drafted by the Penguins in the third round in 2012, was a bit of an unknown entering the 2015-16 season.

The top goaltender in the American Hockey League a season earlier, the Penguins decided to go with Fleury and back-up Jeff Zatkoff, giving Murray a chance to get more seasoning in the minors.

But when Fleury went down with an injury, the 22-year-old, later named to the under-23 squad that will compete at the World Cup of Hockey, got his chance.

The numbers speak for themselves.

He compiled a 9-2-1 record with a 2.00 goals against average, including his first NHL shutout on April 2 against the resurgent New York Islanders.

He saw action in 21 playoff games, going 15-6 with a 2.08 GAA and .923 save percentage.

No doubt Murray’s life has changed since he won the Cup. In Pittsburgh, he started getting noticed on the street, fans high-fiving him in public.

He’s even starting to see a little of that in his hometown.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming home, if people would recognize me. It’s definitely not as intense here as it was in Pittsburgh, so I still feel like I have a little bit of anonymity sometimes. I don’t mind doing it. I like taking pictures with people. If you want to take a picture with me, that’s pretty flattering,” he said