Murray Hall is an interesting case in the hockey card world. He played just 164 games in the National Hockey League. Yet, Hall got on the front of three hockey cards. In the WHA, Murray played 312 regular season and 54 playoff games over four years with the Houston Aeros. He contributed an a pretty decent 221 points and was a part of two championship teams. However, Hall got his face on just one WHA card in the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set.
There’s more to his career than those games in the two major leagues. Hall was a Memorial Cup champion in junior and had a pretty successful minor pro career.
Murray Hall – Junior and Minor Pro
Hall played major junior hockey with the St. Catherines Teepees in 1959-60 and 1960-61. In his first year, he helped the team to the Memorial Cup finals. Teammed with the likes of Roger Crozier, Vic Hadfield and Chico Maki, the Teepees took out the Edmonton Oil Kings for the championship.
Murray Hall Collection
The following year, St. Catherines wasn’t as successful as a team but Murray did well offensively. He scored 35 and assisted on 41 for 76 points while playing the full 48 game schedule. He ranked seventh for goals, tied for sixth for assists and was fifth in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy.
That year, he also saw his first pro action, appearing in eight EPHL games with the Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds. The Billy Reay coached team lost in the finals to the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens. Teammates included Pat Stapleton, Alain Caron and Denis Dejordy.
Hall played for the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League in 1961-62. In his rookie season, he was a 20 goal scorer. The Bisons reached the Calder Cup finals but fell to the powerful Springfield Indians.
The following year, Murray was off to play for the St. Louis Braves of the EPHL. Offensively, he exploded with 98 points on 29 goals and 69 assists over 71 games. He led the league in assists, tied for ninth for goals and came in third in the overall scoring race. Even with Phil Esposito and Alain Caron putting the puck in the net and Roger Crozier between the pipes, the Braves finished fourth in the four team league.
Hall remained with the Braves for parts of the 1963-64 season but the team moved to the CPHL. Appearing in just 28 games, Murray amazed with 17 goals and 40 assists for 57 points. Over a full 72 game schedule, he would have been on pace for a 147 point season. Teammate Alain Caron scored a whopping 77 goals.
Even though he split his 1967-68 season three ways between the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL, Memphis South Stars of the CPHL and Rochester Americans of the AHL, Hall came out of the season with great success. In the Calder Cup playoffs with the Amerks, Murray scored five and assisted on nine over eleven games. He led the team in points, tied with Bryan Hextall. Rochester beat out the Quebec Aces in the finals for the championship.
1968-69 and 1969-70 were spent in the WHL with the Vancouver Canucks. In both seasons, the Canucks won the championship with wins over the Portland Buckaroos in the finals of each campaign.
In 1969-70, he tied for fifth with Art Stratton of the Seattle Totems in the WHL with 55 assists. He also finished eighth in the overall scoring race with 82 points. In the playoffs, he led the team with ten goals and 21 points over just eleven games.
Murray Hall – NHL and WHA
Between 1961-62 and 1971-72, Hall appeared in 164 regular season games in the National Hockey League. Over that time, he scored 35 and assisted on 48 for 83 points. Murray appeared in just six Stanley Cup playoff games, four with Chicago and two with Detroit. Along with the Blackhawks and Red Wings, he also played for the Minnesota North Stars and Vancouver Canucks.
Hall was taken in the 14th round of the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft by North Stars. He had been traded back to Chicago from Detroit in the off-season but was not protected from the draft.
His time in Minnesota was short. On December 26, 1967, Hall was traded from the North Stars to the Rochester Americans (Toronto Maple Leafs) with Duke Harris, Ted Taylor, Len Lunde and Don Johns for J.P. Parise and Milan Marcetta.
His only real full season came in 1970-71 with the expansion Canucks. Over 77 games, he was one of the team’s top scorers with 21 goals and 38 assists.
Hall jumped to the World Hockey Association for the rebel league’s inaugural 1972-73 season. He played with the Houston Aeros from 1972-73 to 1975-76. His numbers were decent with 96 goals and 125 assists for 221 points over 312 regular season games. In the playoffs, he added another 21 goals and 38 points over 54 games.
With the Aeros, Murray won Avco World Trophy championships in 1973-74, over the Chicago Cougars, and in 1974-75, over the Quebec Nordiques. In his final season, Houston fell in the finals to the Winnipeg Jets.
Murray Hall – Rookie Card
The Murray Hall rookie card appears as number 43 in the 1962-63 Topps set. He is shown with the Chicago Blackhawks and, as you can imagine, the card is a common.
His next card would not appear until 1966-67 when he was shown with the Red Wings. Hall’s only other two NHL cards are with the Vancouver Canucks in 1970-71 and 1971-72. He then just appears once with the Aeros, in the 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee mixed NHL/WHA set.
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1959-60 | St. Catharines Teepees | OHA | 48 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 22 |
| 1960-61 | St. Catharines Teepees | OHA | 48 | 35 | 41 | 76 | 60 |
| 1960-61 | Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds | EPHL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1961-62 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961-62 | Buffalo Bisons | AHL | 68 | 20 | 21 | 41 | 41 |
| 1962-63 | Syracuse/St. Louis Braves | EPHL | 71 | 29 | 69 | 98 | 41 |
| 1962-63 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1963-64 | St. Louis Braves | CPHL | 28 | 17 | 40 | 57 | 35 |
| 1963-64 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 23 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 1964-65 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 72 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 29 |
| 1964-65 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1965-66 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 70 | 28 | 45 | 73 | 102 |
| 1965-66 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1966-67 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 12 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 10 |
| 1966-67 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 12 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| 1966-67 | Los Angeles Blades | WHL | 43 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 28 |
| 1967-68 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 38 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 19 |
| 1967-68 | Memphis South Stars | CPHL | 12 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 23 |
| 1967-68 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 17 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 1968-69 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 69 | 28 | 37 | 65 | 34 |
| 1969-70 | Vancouver Canucks | WHL | 72 | 27 | 55 | 82 | 42 |
| 1970-71 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 77 | 21 | 38 | 59 | 22 |
| 1971-72 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 37 | 10 | 32 | 42 | 70 |
| 1971-72 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 32 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 6 |
| 1972-73 | Houston Aeros | WHA | 76 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 84 |
| 1973-74 | Houston Aeros | WHA | 78 | 30 | 28 | 58 | 25 |
| 1974-75 | Houston Aeros | WHA | 78 | 18 | 29 | 47 | 28 |
| 1975-76 | Houston Aeros | WHA | 80 | 20 | 26 | 46 | 18 |
| 1976-77 | Oklahoma City Blazers | CHL | 30 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 2 |
| 1977-78 | Brantford Alexanders | OHASr | 25 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 35 |
| NHL Totals | 164 | 35 | 48 | 83 | 46 | ||
| WHA Totals | 312 | 96 | 125 | 221 | 155 |