After 43 years as the head coach of Cyclone Hockey, Al Murdoch has decided to hang up his skates and retire from the program.

Murdoch, who has led Cyclone Hockey since 1970, announced Tuesday during the Al Murdoch Show on isuTV that it was time for him to leave the program. He said that his reason for stepping down during the season was he wanted to spend more time with his family.

“It just seemed to me that this was the time to step back from Cyclone Hockey,” Murdoch said. “In 43 years, we had 1,070 wins. So I told them on the TV show last night that this was the last show forever … for Al Murdoch.”

On Monday, Nov. 18, Murdoch said he met with Warren Madden, who is the senior vice president for business and finance at Iowa State, and handles the team’s budget and affairs. In that meeting, Murdoch and Madden came to the conclusion that it was time for Murdoch to step down.   

This isn’t the first time Murdoch has thought about retirement. He pointed to a couple of occasions over the past few years when he was advised to leave the program due to health reasons.

“Two years ago I had pneumonia midway through the season,” Murdoch said. “What does Murdoch do? He coaches through it. My doctor told me I was an idiot and that I should have taken a break. Last year I had cancer and coached through it and beat it.”

“So when is a good time to leave? People tell me you don’t wait until you have to leave coaching due to illness or sickness. So I made the decision on Monday that I was going to step away from hockey.”  

Murdoch, who is 67 years old, said this decision to leave the program was because he wanted to make sure that he had time to spend with his family when he is healthy.

“I want to do some things with my wife and my kids,” Murdoch said. “Should it have been two years ago when I had pneumonia, maybe? Should it have been last year when I had cancer, maybe?”

Last weekend the Cyclone Hockey team swept No. 2 Minot State in a two-game series. Murdoch said that he decided to retire after the series because he wanted to go out on top.

“I wanted to take the high road,” Murdoch said. “I wanted to leave on a high note and as a winner.”

The players within Cyclone Hockey have elected ISU assistant coach Jason Fairman to take over Murdoch’s role as coach for the rest of the season, Madden said. This is Fairman’s first year at Iowa State.

At the conclusion of the season, Madden said the team will evaluate who would be the best fit to replace Murdoch.  

“The players have indicated that to me that they would like Jason Fairman to continue on as head coach,” Madden said. “He has been one of the assistant coaches who has a fair amount of experience. And I think that is the path we are on for the moment.”

Fairman said the style he wants to bring to the Cyclone Hockey will mirror that of Cornell hockey. Fairman played for Cornell and was an assistant coach for the program.  

“Every coach has their own philosophy on how things should be done,” Fairman said. “I’m a product of what I have been in. I played at Cornell, I coached at Cornell. I have a lot of respect for the coach at Cornell, Mike Schafer. If anyone knows anything about Cornell hockey, we will mirror that style a little bit.”

The players were informed that Murdoch was leaving the team shortly after Murdoch made the decision Monday.

“Like lots of things. They are just looking forward to the next game, the next meal and the next bus trip,” Murdoch said when ask how the players took the news on him leaving the program.

Murdoch also said that in a few years if a chance to work with Cyclone Hockey again arose, he would have to think about it.

Murdoch will still be the general manger of the U.S. hockey team at the Winter World University games, which is Dec. 6 until Dec.10 in Trentino, Italy.

Additionally, Murdoch said he hasn’t informed everyone within Cyclone Hockey, such as the marketing team, due to the fact that he doesn’t want it to become a distraction to the hockey season.

When asked how he thinks the players will remember him, Murdoch said that he hopes, even though he was a tough coach, the players will understand in the future that his methods were only to help make them better hockey players.

“My experience has been that I wasn’t necessarily Doctor Hockey or Mr. Popularity when coaching them,” Murdoch said. “But two or three years after, it all of sudden hit them, ‘That’s why he did those things. That’s why he required us to look like All-Americans.’ So sometimes it does take that two or three years. But I hope that they would have a positive, warm feeling about me down the road.”