ISU men’s hockey coach Al Murdoch has done a lot of recruiting in his 34 years as coach of the Cyclones.

And when his youngest son, Andrew, made the decision to play at Iowa State, Al called him “the best recruit that year.”

“He asked me twice on what to do and I told him to write letters to schools, tell them about yourself and they’ll recruit you,” Al said. “He got recruiting letters from lots of schools, including Iowa State. I told him to narrow it down to three. He came into my office one day and told me his decision was Iowa State.”

The senior in elementary education said watching the team and growing up watching his dad coach made choosing Iowa State a pretty easy decision.

“I’ve grown up watching the team,” Andrew said. “It’s the best program I’ve seen.”

Andrew said it was a tough experience playing for his dad in his freshman season, but after his first season, he’s tried to be more of a leader.

“This year I maybe have stepped it up more vocally because I’m one of the two seniors on the team,” Andrew said.

“In my first year, we had about 10 sophomores and not that many juniors and seniors. So they were kind of the upperclassmen. I just let them do the talking and I just try to do my best and to lead by example.”

Despite not being vocal during his first year, Al said Andrew has been a great person on and off the ice.

“He’s a hard worker. He’s gotten better every year since he’s been here with us. He’s won the academic award two of the last three years,” Al said.

“When you play hockey for Iowa State, you have to do a lot of stuff. He’s been the top salesman in season tickets and advertising all four years. He’s one of the best speakers on the team.”

Andrew also speaks to the residence halls, greek system, service clubs and kids’ groups about ISU hockey.

“I just tell them how good the program is and how fun the games are,” he said. “I just try to promote hockey all the time. Word of mouth is our best tool. We go out and speak all the time. We just try to get more and more people at the games.”

Since Andrew has played a lot of hockey, he describes his style of play as smart. “I have so much experience that I see the ice pretty well and know where the play is going,” Andrew said. “I think I’ve been the same player since my freshman year.”

Al said Andrew is a well-rounded player. “He can play pretty well at full strength, penalty killing and power play,” he said.

And Andrew is also proud of his dad’s accomplishments as a coach.

“I’m pretty proud of everything he’s done ’cause I know he has taken the program from the bottom up,” Andrew said. “He’s got the high school MVP trophy named after him.

“The American Collegiate Hockey Association trophy that we play for is called ‘The Al Murdoch Cup.’ I am always pretty proud of it and it’s a big honor playing for him and I just try to take after him. I hope to be like him someday.”