University of Minnesota Athletics
Murray Williamson - M Club Hall of Fame
Murray Williamson
Class of 2008
Hockey: 1957-59
Making his mark as both a successful player and coach, Murray Williamson is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of hockey in the state of Minnesota. Williamson played for the Golden Gophers from 1957-59 and was the team’s Most Valuable Player and a first team All-American as a senior. He went on to coach two U.S. Olympic teams and was a major contributor to the growth of hockey in the United States.
During his three-year playing career as a winger at Minnesota, Williamson totaled 32 goals and 47 assists for 79 points in 76 games. Playing under legendary coach John Mariucci, Williamson ranked among the team’s top four scorers in each of his three seasons and was second on the squad as a senior with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points.
Williamson earned high acclaim in the coaching profession and began his career as the head coach of the St. Paul Steers of the United States Hockey League from 1963-67. He then moved into international hockey and was the general manager of the U.S. National and Olympic teams in 1967-68 and 1970-72. Williamson served as head coach of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team that placed sixth in Grenoble, France, with future Olympic coach and his Golden Gopher teammate Herb Brooks on the roster.
At the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, Williamson coached the United States to a surprising silver medal finish that has been labeled “the team that time forgot.” It is the United States’ only Olympic medal finish on foreign soil since 1956 and one of only three medal-winning performances since 1960.
Williamson founded the Midwest Junior league (now the USHL) and in 1972 was the coach and general manager for the first U.S. world junior team that competed in the inaugural World Junior Championships held in Leningrad Russia. He coached three US National teams that competed in the World Championships in Austria in 1967, Romania 1970 and Switzerland in 1971
Williamson was inducted into the Massachusets Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000, the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005 and won the Hobey Baker Foundation Legend of Hockey award the same year. In 2001, he was named one of the 50 most significant players and coaches in Minnesota hockey history.