Stephen James Murphy (born 11 December 1981) is a British former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender.

Early life

Murphy was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He began playing ice hockey at the age of five. He made his first professional appearances at the age of 16 with the

Paisley Pirates The Paisley Pirates were founded in 1946 and are one of the oldest ice hockey clubs in Scotland and the UK (the oldest being the Fife Flyers). The Pirates were the epitome of the game in Scotland during the 1950s. In season 1953–54 they won t ...

of the BNL. Murphy made two appearances for the Pirates during the 1997/98 season before moving on to the

Fife Flyers The Fife Flyers are a Ice hockey in Scotland, Scottish professional ice hockey team in Kirkcaldy, Fife. Established in 1938, the Flyers are the oldest still-extant club in the country. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena, which ...

. Whilst in Fife, Murphy helped the Flyers win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Omaha Lancers The Omaha Lancers are a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Founded in 1986, the Lancers play at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ra ...

of the

USHL The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

. He failed to make an appearance and moved mid-season to the Cleveland Barons. He finished the 2000–2001 season in Scotland, once again playing for the Flyers. In the summer of 2001, Murphy played again for the Team GB junior squad but also featured for the senior team where he recorded 1.97 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Murphy remained in Scotland for the 2001–2002 term, although he signed for the

Dundee Stars The Dundee Stars are a Scottish professional ice hockey team based in the city of Dundee. They were formed in 2001 and play their home games at the Dundee Ice Arena, situated off the city's main Kingsway dual carriageway. The current title s ...

and played alongside British hockey great

Tony Hand Anthony Hand MBE (born 15 August 1967) is a Scottish former ice hockey player and coach. He was the first British player to be drafted by an NHL team when he was picked by the Edmonton Oilers in 1986. Nicknamed ''Two point Tony'', he holds seve ...

for the first time at club level. Murphy played 43 games for the Stars in the regular season and made 10 post-season appearances. He again appeared for Team GB in 2002, in the World Cup. Murphy remained in his hometown of Dundee for the 2002–2003 season, whilst the British ice hockey organisation was undergoing considerable restructuring. A move followed for the 2003–2004 term, this time to the

Bracknell Bees The Berkshire Bees are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1987, un ...

, a team now playing in the transitional BNL following the collapse of the ISL. Murphy played eight regular season games for the Bees due to a shoulder injury which kept him off the ice for the remainder of the season. He moved into European hockey for the 2004–2005 season. He found regular games with Swedish Division I team Bräcke IK. After three months, Murphy was poached by the higher level

HockeyAllsvenskan HockeyAllsvenskan (previously Allsvenskan and SuperAllsvenskan) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league, and the second-highest league in the Swedish ice hockey system, after the Swedish Hockey League, SHL. Since the 2009–10 season, t ...

team

IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Löven) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan as of the 2024-25 season, but h ...

to play out the remainder of the season for them. Murphy adapted to the change in standard well, and completed the season as a Björklöven player. They failed to make the post-season however and so Murphy returned to Scotland to play in three post-season games for the Stars. The following season, after again playing for Team GB, Murphy returned to

IFK Arboga IK IFK Arboga IK is an ice-hockey club from Arboga in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, an ...

. Arboga struggled in the league but managed to retain their membership in HockeyAllsvenskan through playing in the end of season relegation playoffs. Arboga struggled financially however, prompting Murphy to return to the United Kingdom and play for the

Edinburgh Capitals The Edinburgh Capitals are a Scottish ice hockey club, playing in the Scottish National League (SNL). They are based in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. The team play at the Murrayfield Ice Rink, close to Murrayfield Rugby stadium. In Apr ...

in the recently established

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

, now the top level of ice hockey in the UK following the lengthy restructuring process. Murphy played every regular season game for the Capitals, and won the EIHL 'Best British Goaltender' award for his play. Despite this, the Capitals failed to make the EIHL post-season as they struggled for regular goalscorers. Murphy returned to Scandinavia and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

to ice for

Stjernen Hockey Stjernen Hockey is a Norway, Norwegian ice hockey team based in Fredrikstad, Norway. They currently play in the EliteHockey Ligaen. They play their home games in Stjernehallen. Their team colours are red and white. History Stjernen was founded ...

, a team playing in the

GET-ligaen EliteHockey Ligaen (EHL) is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. It comprises 10 clubs and works on the premise of promotion and relegation, in which the two teams who placed last must play ...

, the top club league in Norway. In 36 regular season games, Murphy recorded a 3.18 GAA and a .901 PCT. In the summer of 2008, Murphy was persuaded to once again play alongside

, with Hand now acting as player/coach of the

Manchester Phoenix Manchester Phoenix were a semi professional ice hockey team from Greater Manchester, England. The club was formed in 2003 as a result of the efforts of supporters group ''Friends of Manchester Ice Hockey'' to bring top-level ice hockey back to M ...

. Murphy had proved an excellent signing for the Phoenix and has once again established himself as the organisation's first choice goaltender. A solid season followed for Murphy, who helped the Phoenix to both the Knockout and Challenge Cup finals and once again was awarded Best British Goaltender. Despite the on-ice success, the Phoenix withdrew from the EIHL at the end of the season in favour of playing in the EPL, going on to sign Steve Fone as first choice goaltender. Murphy chose to remain in the EIHL however, and move on to the

Belfast Giants The Belfast Giants (known officially as the Stena Line Belfast Giants due to sponsorship) are a professional ice hockey team based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They compete in the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League, Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). T ...

. After over a decade in Belfast, in March 2021, Murphy was signed by fellow EIHL side Manchester Storm as one of their back-up netminders for the 2021 Elite Series. Murphy announced his retirement from the sport in July 2021.

Awards and honours

References

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External links

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Stephen Murphy's profile and statistics
from the

Stephen Murphy's profile and statistics
from the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Stephen 1981 births Belfast Giants players Bracknell Bees players British expatriate ice hockey people Edinburgh Capitals players Fife Flyers players IFK Arboga IK players Living people Manchester Phoenix players Manchester Storm (2015–) players Paisley Pirates players Scottish ice hockey goaltenders Sportspeople from Dundee Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate ice hockey players in Norway Expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate ice hockey players in the United States