Buckley move ties into Murray’s rise
the mental side of the game,” Buckley said. “We had a very good discussion about that. I just remember his eyes were wide open, and he was very receptive. He was really engaged. I think that was a key moment.”
Buckley had Murray’s attention, and that hasn’t changed.
Murray has won two Stanley Cups by age 23 for several reasons, but near the top of the list is his mental approach.
It wasn’t always that way, as Buckley explained. But tweaking that, and finding results, has built up a level of trust between the two.
“He’s an unbelievable kid to work with,” Buckley said of Murray. “He picks up stuff so quickly. We believe in each other. There was a bond and a level of trust there.”
Every summer since they first met, Murray has trained with Buckley at his home in Exeter, N.H.
They work on technical aspects, sure, but a gigantic part of the instruction still revolves around mental coaching, about staying in the moment, the same sort of stuff Murray talks about ad nauseam.
“Goalies nowadays are so well trained and so well-conditioned,” Buckley said. “What I told him then is what’s going to separate you is your mental strength and being present and learning how to be present and learning techniques to stay present. He really bought into it.”
Buckley also wasn’t afraid to overhaul some technical parts of Murray’s game.
When Buckley first encountered Murray, he saw a tall, lanky goaltender who played on his heels entirely too much.
“He was more passive,” Buckley said. “He sat back. He wasn’t as much of a play reader. He’s a very intelligent goaltender. I don’t think he was playing to his strengths.
“We believe if you’re more assertive, you’re more at cause than at effect. He agreed immediately. He started taking steps in that direction.
“We also changed his stance quite a bit. He’s very tall. He had a really upright, tall stance. We widened it. That allowed him to be a little more athletic. We worked a lot more on making reads.”
That postseason, Murray made the jump to the American Hockey League and served as the backup as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton reached the conference final. The extra time spent with Buckley proved beneficial.
“We got to work a lot together,” Buckley said. “I think that was a big reason why he had so much success in his rookie campaign in Wilkes-Barre, that time that we got to spend together to work out the kinks.”
Turned out those moments formed a relationship that would be beneficial to the NHL club years later.
And after plenty of freakout over Bales’ awkward departure, maybe it’s worth acknowledging that there’s a really good reason Buckley was promoted.
“Mike Bales and I worked really well together,” Buckley said. “We’ve had a great relationship, kind of a team within the team for so many years. To not have that any longer, that’s kind of tough.
“But Matt and I are very close. With him moving forward as the guy and me being around on a daily basis, I see the reasons why they would want to make that change. It makes total sense.”