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ACHA
National Champions
1992
ACHA
Runner-Up
1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2010
ACHA
Final Four
1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2010
CSCHL
League Champions
1992, 1997, 2002
CSCHL
Tournament Champions
1973, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2002, 2007
World University Games
Head Coach or GM
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011
World University Games
Players on Roster
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011
ACHA
Most Outstanding Player
Players Awarded
1994, 1997, 1998, 2001
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General Manager & Head Coach
Dr. Alan Murdoch
Dr. Alan Murdoch is entering his 43rd season as general manager and head coach of Cyclone Hockey and does so as the only coach in college hockey with more than 1000 wins to his credit, on the strength of his 1002-493-42 record.
The Neepawa, Manitoba, native arrived at Iowa State as a graduate student in 1969 and, shortly after his arrival, significantly increased the organization of Iowa State’s existing hockey club and started “Cyclone Hockey” as it is known today. In his first season, 1969-70, he brought Iowa State into the Iowa Collegiate Hockey League and the following season Cyclone Hockey was a founding member of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League. Cyclone Hockey also quickly moved from playing its games on an outdoor rink on campus, to playing its games at the Des Moines Ice Arena, and then to Hilton Coliseum after it was finished in 1971. By the mid-70s, Cyclone Hockey was playing all of its home games in Hilton and averaging 4,000 to 6,000 fans a night.
Cyclone Hockey started practicing at the new Cyclone Area Community Center in 1979, after conducting most of its practices on outdoor ice or at the Des Moines Ice Arena, and the team started playing more and more of its games at the CAAC as the 80s progressed, and Murdoch played a significant in role in incremental improvements to the rink on a regular basis. After 20 years, the CACC’s condition started deteriorating and the Ames community and Cyclone Hockey were in need of new ice, and Murdoch played a key role in securing over $300,000 a in private donation, in leading a campaign to raise $1.7 million through student fee commitments, and in leading a campaign for the passage of a $1.7 million bond issue. All three marks were met, and the Ames/ISU Ice Arena opened in time for the 2001-2002 school year and has been home to Cyclone Hockey since.
Murdoch wasn’t only vital in the establishing of Cyclone Hockey, he also founded the Ames Minor Hockey Association in 1973 and helped found the Iowa High School Hockey League in 1976, serving as the commissioner of the then 10-team league. Even larger than his contributions to hockey in Ames and Iowa are his contributions to non-scholarship hockey, as Murdoch was a moving force in the foundation of the American Collegiate Hockey League on April 20, 1991 by 15 charter members, including Cyclone Hockey. Murdoch was deemed so important in the founding of the ACHA, that the trophy the ACHA Men’s Division 1 national champion wins is named the Murdoch Cup. Since starting with those 15 teams, the ACHA has grown to over 450 teams spread amongst three men’s divisions and two women’s divisions.
In addition, Murdoch also played a pivotal role in USA Hockey choosing to participate in the World University Games and using ACHA players to comprise its rosters for the tournament. Murdoch served as the head coach for Team USA’s first entry in the World University Games in 2001 and served as the team’s general manager in 2003, the scouting coordinator in 2005 and 2007, and the general manager again in 2009 and 2011. Over those ten years, 13 Cyclones have represented their country and donned the Team USA jersey by playing in the World University Games.
As a coach, Murdoch has led Cyclone Hockey to 12 CSCHL Tournament championships, 3 CSCHL regular season titles, the inaugural ACHA Men’s Division 1 championship in 1992, three runner-up finishes at the ACHA Men’s Division 1 National Tournament, and four other appearances in the Final Four. In the years leading up to the formal establishment of the ACHA, Murdoch led Cyclone Hockey to four runner-up finishes in the non-varsity national championship and one other Final Four appearance.
Four players Murdoch as coached have received the Bob Johnson Award as the ACHA's most outstanding player, and he's had eleven ACHA Men's Division 1 First Team members, seven Second Team members, and six Third Team members.
Murdoch was born on April 30, 1946, and attended Brandon University and then Bemidji State University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in health and physical education and recreation and psychology. He received his master’s degree in higher education from Iowa State in 1970 and his doctorate of higher education from Iowa State in 1984. Murdoch lives in Ames with his wife, Jane, and has five children: sons Sean, Andrew, and Blake, and daughters Kerri and Amy.
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Cyclone Hockey
Coaching Staff
General Manager & Head Coach
Dr. Alan Murdoch
Associated Head Coach
Kyle McDonald
D3 Head Coach
Brendan Sheehan
Assistant Coach
Andrew Murdoch
Goaltending Coach
Marc Rogers
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Doug Borud
Volunteer Assistant Coach
Rick Hahn
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Assistant Coach
Andrew Murdoch
Andrew Murdoch begins his sixth season as an assistant coach in 2011-12, but he has been part of the Cyclone Hockey scene much longer.
The son of Cyclone Hockey General Manager and Head Coach Al Murdoch, Andrew played his youth hockey in the Ames Minor Hockey Association, which his father helped found in the 70s, and played high school hockey for the Ames Little Cyclones. During his freshman season of high school hockey, he played on a line with former Cyclone Hockey players Mike Ogbourne and Rusty Crawford and helped Ames to a third-place finish at the Iowa High School Hockey League State Tournament, which is still Ames' top finish in 20-plus years. Murdoch was an All-State forward all three years he played high school hockey, played in two IHSHL All-Star Games, and played for Team Tri-State at the Chicago Showcase following the 1995-96 season, his junior year, when he led the IHSHL in scoring.
As a 17-year-old, Murdoch moved overseas to Sweden his senior year of high school and played junior hockey for Vanersborg, which he led in scoring. He returned to North America for the 1997-98 season and played Tier II junior A hockey for the Great Falls American of the American Frontier Hockey League and then played for the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1998-99.
Following his two seasons of junior hockey in North America, Murdoch returned to his roots and played for his father at Iowa State. During his four-year collegiate career with Cyclone Hockey, Murdoch surpassed the 200-point plateau with 91 goals and 113 assists in 173 games. He served as an alternate captain his sophomore and junior season and was the team’s captain his senior year. Murdoch earned Cyclone Hockey’s James J. Russo Award twice as the player with the highest grade point average and was the recipient of the Alexander Murdoch Award his senior season as the team’s most valuable player. While playing for Iowa State, Murdoch also represented his country by playing for Team USA at the World University Games in Poland in 2001, which feature a big upset win over Team Russia, and in 2003 in Italy.
Upon graduating with honors from Iowa State in 2004 with a teaching degree, Murdoch taught fifth and sixth grade at Gilbert Elementary School for two years and then moved to Shanghai, China, for three years to teach second and third grade at the Shanghai Community International Schools. While in China, he coached amateur hockey and participated in the Shanghai Adult Hockey League.
Murdoch returned to North America in the summer of 2008 and since then has worked as an investment advisor for The Murdoch Financial Team in Ames, where he works in helping families and small business owners grow, preserve, and protect their wealth. He lives in Ames with his wife, Natalie, who is a fourth-grade teacher at Kate Mitchell Elementary School in Ames, and with their daughter, Scarlett, who turns two in November.
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