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| (Jeff Bothwright/ Cheap Seats Productions) |
The Barrie Colts selected Murray 145th overall at the 2014 OHL Priority Selection Draft. He would join the Colts as a rookie during the 2015-16 season where he would put up 3 goals and 10 assists through 65 games played.
In his third season with the Ponies, Murray was named team captain replacing former captain Cordell James. He would serve as captain for 90 games before getting traded to the Saginaw Spirit this past season. The deal resulted in the Barrie Colts acquiring Jack York from the Kitchener Rangers and a fifth-round pick at the 2020 OHL Draft.
Related: Justin Murray Named Captain
Through 3.5 seasons in Barrie, Murray played 221 games and totalled 17 goals and 68 assists. His 85 point is 10th most in team history among defencemen.
In Saginaw, Murray played 39 regular season games where he would score 6 goals and 17 assists. The team would go on to the Conference Finals where they would be eliminated in game 7 by Guelph. Though Murray received a suspension in the playoffs, he would still play 13 games, scoring a goal and adding 6 assists.
Murray made his return to Barrie Molson Centre with Saginaw for the first time following the trade on February, 21st this year. Fans showed him a warm welcome, while the team shared this video thanking him for his time in Barrie.
Here are a couple quotes from the tribute video.
It's hard to describe Murray, he's such a unique person. He did everything for the community here in Barrie. He was a great captain and a great role model for kids in the community. Honestly, he was a great role model for guys in the room. I know guys the same age and even one year younger than myself and I looked up to Murray a lot. - Aidan Brown
I think he was a good captain for young guys to look up to, even guys like myself. With him, he liked to have fun outside of the rink. Always joking around and smiling. - Jason Willms
When I came to Barrie I was 16, I was a young guy, He made sure I felt welcome here. I think most importantly he taught me to be a good guy off of the ice. He was tremendous in the community and always a good guy, I don't think one guy could say anything bad about Murray. Tyler Tucker
In total, Murray played 260 OHL games scoring 23 goals and 85 assists. He was respected by his teammates and loved by his fans. He even won our Joseph Blandisi Award which is our fan vote for the fans favourite player in back-to-back seasons.
While his OHL career may be complete, memories of him will live on in Barrie for years to come. He will be remembered for his hard work, his work in the community and his incredible leadership. His picture will continue to hang at BMC on the Captains wall to help us remember what an attribute he was to this organization. We would like to sincerely thank Justin for everything he did for the team and the community. Best of luck moving forward!
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