(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Kings named Terry Murray as the club's new head coach on Thursday. In a press conference on Thursday, the team introduced Murray as the 22nd head coach in franchise history.

"I am very excited about this opportunity," said the 57-year-old Murray, who was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers last season. "This will be my biggest challenge as a coach. There is a lot of work ahead and it will take a collective effort to execute the plan we have in place. I am looking forward to training camp and to getting the process under way."

The Kings fired Marc Crawford after a last-place finish last season. LA finished with a 32-43-7 record and 71 points, tied for the lowest total in the league with Tampa Bay. Crawford was let go after two seasons in which the Kings went a combined 59-84-21.

"We are very pleased that Terry has accepted this challenge," said Kings general manager Dean Lombardi. "He has a wide range of coaching experience and he understands the importance of teaching, which is critical to the building process."

Murray began his coaching career as an assistant for his brother Bryan with the Washington Capitals (web|news) from 1983-88. After less than two years behind the bench with the Caps' AHL club in Baltimore, he was appointed Washington's head coach in January, 1990, and remained there until being replaced with Jim Schoenfeld near the end of the 1993-94 season.

He moved on to become the Flyers head coach from 1994-97. He was fired after that season despite guiding the team to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. He then became the general manager of the Florida Panthers. He fired head coach Doug MacLean in the middle of the 1998-99 season and took over duties behind the bench. After guiding the club to their last playoff berth in 2000, he was fired in the middle of the following season.

Over 11 seasons as a head coach in the NHL, Murray has a record of 360-288-89.

An NHL defenseman for eight seasons, he appeared in 302 games in stints with Washington, Philadelphia, Detroit and the California Golden Seals/California Seals, who originally drafted Murray in the seventh-round of the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. He recorded 80 points (four goals, 76 assists) and 199 penalty minutes during his NHL career.

The Kings open their 2008-09 season in San Jose on October 11.



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