Murray Nystrom

Title: Head Coach

Email: mnystrom@brocku.ca

Phone: 905-688-5550 x4368

Murray Nystrom enters his 12th season as the head coach of the Brock Badgers men’s hockey program.

Last season the Badgers finished with a 17-8-2-1 regular season record clinching the OUA Mid-West Division title. On several occasions the team held a spot in the CIS National Top Ten. The seventeen wins tied the school record for wins in a season (Mike Pelino’s 1993-94 squad reached the 17 win mark, establishing the record). Nystrom was recognized as the OUA Coach of the Year for 2007-08.

The Badgers advanced in the 2007-08 OUA playoffs defeating nationally ranked Western and Lakehead, earning the right to host the Queen’s Cup Championship game at the Seymour-Hannah Centre (SHC). It was Brock’s first appearance in the OUA championship game and a sold out SHC witnessed a spectacular game as the McGill Redmen scored two, late third period goals to win their first Queen’s Cup since 1946. The chance to compete for the Queen’s Cup automatically earned the Badger’s their first berth into the CIS National Championships, held in Moncton, NB. It was the first appearance by a St. Catharines based hockey team in a national championship since 1974 when the St. Catharines Blackhawks traveled to Calgary to compete in the Memorial Cup.

During the CIS National Championships awards ceremony Nystrom was honoured by his colleagues, being named the 2007-08 CIS Coach of the Year. 

In January 2005, Nystrom added to his international coaching resume as an assistant coach with the Canadian National Student Games Team that competed in Innsbruck, Austria at the 22nd Winter Universiade.
In 2003-04, after leading Brock to a 13-8-3 record, Nystrom was named the OUA Coach of the Year and was a finalist for CIS Coach of the Year. The Badgers broke into the Top 10 National Rankings three times during the year.

The native of Thunder Bay, ON has experience playing and coaching in several high performance settings. He was a member of the Thunder Bay Andrew’s Midgets, which earned the bronze medal at the 1983 Air Canada Cup held in Ste. Foy, QC and was a linemate of former National Hockey League player Tony Hrkac and current LA Kings assistant coach Jamie Kompon. Following a year with the Chatham Maroons of the Western Junior B Hockey League, he played major junior with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (1984-1987). He served as the alternate captain his final two years in London. Nystrom had the opportunity to play with several future NHL players including Brendan Shanahan, David Lowry, Jeff Reese, Jim Sandlak and Tim Taylor.

Nystrom attended the training camp of the Buffalo Sabres in the fall of 1986, prior to his last year with the Knights organization, and joined the Baltimore Skipjacks of the American Hockey League upon completion of the Knights season. Nystrom earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from the University of New Brunswick (1992), where he competed for three seasons under the direction of former LA Kings associate coach Mike Johnston. Nystrom was appointed captain of the Red Devils for his final two years and in 1992, was the inaugural recipient of the prestigious Mark Jeffrey Memorial Trophy. Nystrom went on to the University of Western Ontario to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Kinesiology and graduated in 1995. He acted as a graduate assistant coach for Western for one season during the 1992-93 campaign before re-joining the London Knights, and current Columbus Bluejackets assistant coach Gary Agnew, as an assistant for the 1993-94 season. 

He spent three more seasons with the Knights as an assistant coach, and while working with the Ontario Under-17 team which competed at the 1995 Canada Games, helped guide Team Canada to a goal medal performance at the 1995 World Hockey Challenge in Moncton, NB. Joe Thornton, Nick Boynton, and Mike Van Ryn were members of the team. Former Badgers captain, Matt Osborne was also a member of the 1995 Canada Games team. In 1996, he moved to Sudbury where he spent two seasons on the coaching staff of the Sudbury Wolves, coaching Paul Mara, Andrew Raycroft, Norm Milley, Taylor Pyatt, and Jeremy Adduono before joining the Canadian National men’s team as a central Canada scout. He was promoted to acting head coach with the National team during the 1998 Winter Olympics and guided Canada to a 6-1 record during a tour of Europe. 

Nystrom was appointed coach of the hockey program at Brock in the spring of 1998 and the team has progressed into post-season play in nine of his ten seasons. The Badgers achieved the third best regular season win total (13) in team history during 1999-00 and the 2003-04. The Badgers set a new mark in 2006-07 when the team won 14 games. In 2007-08 Brock tied the all time win mark with 17 and Nystrom surpassed Mike Pelino’s 106 career wins, finishing the season with 108 career conference victories. 

During his tenure at Brock, Nystrom has developed one of the top hockey skills camps for youth players in the Niagara Region with the Winter “Shooting to Score” skills camp which runs during the Christmas school break and the Brock Badgers Summer hockey camps, which operates 3 consecutive weeks prior to the Labour Day weekend. Over 300 youth hockey players currently attend the various Brock hockey camps. 

Murray and his wife Shelagh, a high school teacher, reside in Welland, ON. They have two children, Erik (12) and Hanna (8).