Although many people on the RPI hockey team are from Canada, where hockey is a major pastime, Matt Murley grew up playing hockey in Syracuse. Murley, now a Troy resident, began skating at the age of three because his mother felt that it would be a fun activity for him. His brother later introduced Murley to hockey.

"I hated it at first, but once you put a hockey stick in my hand I couldn’t get enough of it," he said. As he grew to love hockey, Murley found that he spent a lot of time learning how to do moves and practicing different types of shots.

Although his home is in Troy, Murley decided to live on campus in order to gain some freedom and learn how to live with people outside his family. He still finds time to go home every day for a hot meal and to get his laundry done, though. Being close to home, he explained, has helped him during tough moments because he could always turn to his family for support.

Hockey has kept Murley busy so far in his life. He explained how playing hockey has made it easier living in a town like Troy. There are many times, he said, when he or his brother were bored, so they would just go outside and play hockey. He also explained how playing hockey kept him out of trouble in school, because he was mostly away during the weekends.

"While playing hockey, people knew I didn’t want to be distracted, so they didn’t bother me with things that they knew would cause me distraction," he said.

The decision to come to RPI was rather easy for Murley. Schools like Harvard, Michigan, Boston College, and many others were pursuing him, but his dream had always been to come play at RPI, and he didn’t give much consideration to other schools.

Murley, a senior forward, was drafted in 1999 by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He and his family feel that this is a great accomplishment, but he knows that he has to keep working hard. He talks about how tons of players get drafted by NHL teams and end up not playing, so he feels that he still needs to improve if he hopes to see any professional ice time.

Even during the off-season, Murley finds no problem focusing on hockey.

"I just know how hockey is in my life and I know that’s what I want to do in my life, so during the off-season I weightlift, skate, and run," he said.

Before each game, Murley heads home for some of his mother’s lasagna, followed by a two-hour nap. He believes this ritual not only keeps him fresh before the game but also helps him to recover quickly afterwards.

Unsurprisingly, Murley can’t wait to get the season started. He says the team has a lot of focused guys coming back and that will help them make a good run. This hockey team will be one of the best in the country, he says, because this year’s team has good depth in many positions.

Many people have the notion that hockey players behave the same way on and off the ice. Murley proves them wrong—outside of hockey, he’s a nice guy.

"I would do almost anything for the team and my teammates, on and off the ice," he said. Many times in the past he has helped out teammates who had problems.

This season, though, Murley’s teammates will need him as a player more than anything else. He led the ECAC in goals last year, and a successful season for the Engineers will have to begin with him.