I'm sure people will let the odd slip up go when Murray crushes someone.
Murray isn't the best player in the World, but he's the type of d we need. He obviously needs to be paired with someone who's mobile.
When he's clearing the crease and defending teammates people will tend to forget about the Corsi and come to appreciate that he was a need.
If everyone wants, we could have gone and tried to outbid the Devils for Ryane Clowe.
This thread is growing faster than Murray could ever skate.
I think this is a good example of the problem people like Mathman and others have pointed out.
Sure, Murray fills a need that the team missing, but the problem they see is that Habs fans have been so deprived of toughness that whenever a player who has an ounce of it is acquired, this one ability trumps all their other flaws that player may have, even if it is detrimental to the team. The point they are trying to make is that while toughness is needed, the player acquired could still bring a negative impact to the team by not being good in the other areas the team also needs filling.
Personally, I think Murray is a good acquisition and that the problems MathMan has brought up are over-stated to a certain extent. That being said, he still brings up a valid point, toughness for toughness sake, even if it is filling a hole in the lineup does not necessarily equate to a better team. It is quite possible to bring in a tough player who is overall worse than the players they are replacing. The idea can be expressed in "1 step forward, but 2 steps back" or "so we fixed this hole, but we've created another."
I think this is what MathMan's concern is, even though it doesn't get articulated as such.
Also, no matter how much we want to imagine otherwise, advanced stats are useful, that's why actual nhl teams employ them (Boston, San Jose and the Kings have admitted to their use and have all been successful teams, could advance stats be the reason Murray was shipped from San Jose in the first place?). Like everything else in life, taken to an extreme they can be useless. In moderation, they should be used to complement visual observation and vice versa. That being said, MathMan brings up something extremely relevant, many observed last year that Murray slowed down quite significantly and the advanced stats show and agree with this visual observation.
Now like I said, I don't think the decline should be a problem considering Murray will play a depth/bottom pairing role. In that case it's a good signing. But people shouldn't be scoffing at advanced stats, MathMan and the question surrounding Murray's supposed decline since it's not just habs fans who noticed this, but San Jose and Pittsburgh fans as well. Where MathMan goes wrong in my opinion is that he thinks Murray can longer play an effective role.
But I understand his concern that his acquisition might be reflective of a mindset which he thinks might be detrimental to the team in the long-run, that is, acquiring toughness for the sake of it.
