More time for Murray

According to the world of Facebook, I'm actually a more hated man in Ottawa than Bryan Murray.
However, it should be noted that Murray's list 2010 World Cup Jerseys is expanding with each passing day, while mine has stagnated for the past few months (I must admit, that I actually joined my own hate group in effort to increase the popularity. Sadly, this had no effect).
In the nation's capital, there are a growing number of Sens fans who think Murray should be fired at the end of the season. And I'm actually wondering why there is so much anger towards a general manager who has been on the job for approximately 20 months.
As a general rule of thumb, GMs get to stay in one place for a period of four or five years -- unless they are running the New York Islanders. Mike Milbury got to stick around for 11 years, while Neil Smith didn't even order a new desk chair in his six weeks on the job.
But we're not talking about the dysfunctional Islanders here. We're talking about a Canadian-based team where the expectation levels are through the roof. And so it doesn't come as a surprise that fans want some wholesale changes if the Senators miss the playoffs this spring.
Should those changes include the firing of Murray?
Probably not, when you consider the track record of other Canadian teams who play under a similar pressure-cooker environment.
Bob Gainey got to miss the post-season once in his tenure and it didn't cost him his job right away. It took the Canucks missing the playoffs for a second time in three seasons under Dave Nonis to get him fired last summer. Kevin Lowe missed the playoffs four times in seven years in Edmonton. And we all know how many mulligans John Ferguson Jr. received before he got his send-off from the Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund. I'm having a hard time thinking of a Canadian-based GM who was fired after missing the playoffs only once. Even Craig Button had a couple of chances in Calgary, right?
On the popular social networking site, the "Fire Bryan Murray" group has only 27 members, while the "Official Petition To Ban Ian Mendes From Ottawa" hate group currently has 118 members.
You're probably saying that Murray deserves to go because he's had a rotation of coaches unlike any of the men listed above. And while that fact is true, it's also erroneous to suggest that general managers only get to hire two coaches before they get fired themselves.
Down in Washington, George McPhee has hired four different coaches during his time as general manager. And he made two mistakes in a relatively short period of time -- in Bruce Cassidy and Glen Hanlon -- before he got it right with Bruce Boudreau. With the Blackhawks, Dale Tallon made a couple of mistakes behind the bench with Trent Yawney and Denis Savard. But they appear to be headed in the right direction under Joel Quennville.
Don Waddell, Larry Pleau and Glen Sather are also active general managers who have hired three different head coaches. And Lou Lamoreillo has hired no less than 13 coaches -- including some quick-fires like Kevin Constantine and Claude Julien -- during his time with the Devils.
So it's not really fair to suggest that Murray has officially overstayed his welcome when he fired Craig Hartsburg.
Murray is also not responsible for as many personnel gaffes as you may think. He didn't sign Martin Gerber to that three-year contract. He didn't pick Wade Redden over Zdeno Chara. He wasn't the one who passed on Marc Staal in the draft.

And now that this season has unraveled, Murray has to look at the big picture. His plan is to re-tool the Senators with prospects and the draft. He's only had one full NHL Entry Draft as GM of the Senators and by all accounts, he got it right by taking the highly-touted Erik Karlsson. He drafted exactly what his team needs: A skilled, puck-moving defenceman.
This year, the Senators hold two first-round picks in their back pocket. The last time Murray had two first-round picks in the same year, he landed Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry when he was the GM of the Ducks in 2003. I'm thinking that Murray deserves at least one more NHL Entry Draft and one more season before he gets chased out of town by the irrational masses.
And for those of you who disagree with me, feel free to stop by and join my hate group on Facebook.
Granted, he's made some mistakes -- like signing Ray Emery to a long-term deal. But he quickly realized that mistake and bought him out last summer. Signing the likes of Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Mike Fisher to long-term deals was not a mistake if you take off your 20/20 hindsight glasses. Go back and read any columnist, blogger or analyst from the day of those signings, when Murray was praised for locking up the core of the franchise. Any general manager would have done the same thing if they were in Murray's shoes. Should we really fire Bryan Murray for doing what any other sane-minded GM would have done?