Rumor: Hurricanes coach Muller 'will be dismissed' at season's end

[Vagrant]

When Muller was hired, I really thought (hoped) that the Canes had found the next great new coach.

But after watching him for a while, I just get the impression that he's not very intelligent, and doesn't understand how to influence players.

Well, I wouldn't be too hard on him. It's just that for me it seems like he doesn't present a clear image of what he's supposed to be. He looks like somebody that's pretending to be a head coach. He hasn't owned the role. How many times have we seen him coaching a player on the bench? How many times have we seen him demanding to speak to an official? How many times have we seen him show any sort of emotion behind the bench? I can't even remember ever seeing him break out the whiteboard and draw up plays. It's just like he's standing there behind the bench but he's really expecting everybody else to actually.... *do things*.

I don't really know how to explain it, but even Maurice and Laviolette had a distinct trait about them that let you know even if you didn't recognize them that they were the head coach of this hockey team. Kirk has ZERO of that in him. Whatever intangible confidence that a head coach exudes, it's not there with him.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I think a coach cannot do his job if the players do not listen to him. If the rumors are true regarding his disconnect with Staal/Ward, he was playing Russian Roulette with five bullets in the first place.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Pete chimes in...kind of:

Pete Friesen ‏@petef08 · 32m
High performance coaching- aggregation of the marginal gains last 2%. Must also take care of the first 98%.

Pete Friesen ‏@petef08 · 31m
If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't really understand it yourself.

Pete Friesen ‏@petef08 · 31m
It ain't about the X's and O's it's about the Jimmy's and Johnny's.

 

[rocky7]

instead of relying on narratives that may or not be true, or may be partially true, it's best to rely on what is concrete after his time with the team. what you see every night from the team, systems, decisions, adaptations, and what he has gotten out of his players. who knows what the truth really is but it's results that count. that and real signs of change and improvement. his post season presser didn't instill much confidence IMO.

 

[daikan]

What do any of those things even mean?

 

[get tanked]

What do any of those things even mean?

I doubt a six-year-old would know, so Pete probably doesn't really understand them himself

 

[Vagrant]

I think he tried to order Jimmy John's instead of Dominoes and then started talking about lowfat milk.

 

[What the Faulk]

What do any of those things even mean?

You can say that about pretty much any one of his tweets.

 

[Vagrant]

You can say that about pretty much any one of his tweets.

I find it hilarious that he retweets his son and it's just as inane as his ramblings. It's like 100% genetic. Or 98% and he nourished the other remaining somesuch percentage.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

You can say that about pretty much any one of his tweets.

They're so awesome

 

[Fumble]

I'd be ok if we gave Mike Keenan a shot...for a north american to coach the KHL champion is pretty impessive. That's gotta say something about his coaching and motivating ability's.

 

[Swag Surf Aho]

Keenan is Maurice 2.0 so we'll have fun with that, ay?

 

[Blueline Bomber]

We should grab Torts-lite and rehire Laviolette

 

[Swag Surf Aho]

We should grab Torts-lite and rehire Laviolette

If this isn't sarcasm, it's actually a good comparison.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

No sarcasm regarding the comparison, slight sarcasm regarding the hiring. I don't think Lavi would be the long-term coach this organization needs

 

[tomdundo]

No sarcasm regarding the comparison, slight sarcasm regarding the hiring. I don't think Lavi would be the long-term coach this organization needs

Well hopefully Maurice doesn't survive for the full 4-year duration of his extension in Winnipeg.

 

[TheBigKahuna]

Pete chimes in...kind of:

If I were GM, he'd be the first guy I fired!

 

[DaveG]

If I were GM, he'd be the first guy I fired!

Who Friesen? You're definitely not alone in that opinion, I think about half the guys from the beer league team a few of us are on would do the same thing as their first move.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

If I was Francis, the first thing I'd do is sit down with E. Staal and Muller and very frankly figure out if they can coexist and be on the same page next year. If not, then one of them should be gone (and that is most likely Muller).

Going into next season with that uncertainty lingering over the team is a recipe for disaster IMO.

 

[faulkingdynamic]

If I was Francis, the first thing I'd do is sit down with E. Staal and Muller and very frankly figure out if they can coexist and be on the same page next year. If not, then one of them should be gone (and that is most likely Muller).

Going into next season with that uncertainty lingering over the team is a recipe for disaster IMO.

If that conversation happens I hope that Eric is frankly asked. How many different coaches are you going to go thru before you give consistent nightly effort? That conversation would need serious questions asked to both men. As mentioned before, Muller doesn't exactly have a consistent identity and confindence level so its hard to control the culture. He is the anti Hitchcock, who establishes power structure, accountability, roles, expectations, and culture from day 1 on the job. I liked the Muller hire at the time but the guy hadn't even been a head coach for an entire season at any level. And he walked into a really good situation in Milwaukee where he was really just picking up where the last guy left off when he was promoted to Nashville. Maybe we should have hired Lane Lambert, the guy Muller replaced... at least the power play would have been decent.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

If that conversation happens I hope that Eric is frankly asked. How many different coaches are you going to go thru before you give consistent nightly effort? That conversation would need serious questions asked to both men. As mentioned before, Muller doesn't exactly have a consistent identity and confindence level so its hard to control the culture. He is the anti Hitchcock, who establishes power structure, accountability, roles, expectations, and culture from day 1 on the job. I liked the Muller hire at the time but the guy hadn't even been a head coach for an entire season at any level. And he walked into a really good situation in Milwaukee where he was really just picking up where the last guy left off when he was promoted to Nashville. Maybe we should have hired Lane Lambert, the guy Muller replaced... at least the power play would have been decent.

Can't disagree with anything you wrote. I personally just don't see E. Staal changing at this point in his career, he is who he is. I hate it and am not excusing it, but it seems to me it's in his DNA. The problem this past season is that to go along with his poor games, he never really had the dominating games and he is not producing on the PP either. Hopefully it was the injury setting him back that affected those things this year (but not the inconsistency as that's been there all along).

IMO, the Canes either need to conclude they can build a team and find a way to win with Eric Staal having slow starts / off nights like he pretty much always has..or they need to decide they can't and then go in a different direction.

 

[Ole Gil]

Again, with Eric, it's important to remember that Eric was dominant just the season before this one. Under Muller, with the same linemates. The knee injury (along with Tlusty and Semin's injuries), intuitively, seems like the most likely source of the dropoffs.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Again, with Eric, it's important to remember that Eric was dominant just the season before this one. Under Muller, with the same linemates. The knee injury (along with Tlusty and Semin's injuries), intuitively, seems like the most likely source of the dropoffs.

Could be the case. Eric's work on the defensive end and on again / off again traits have been there for years (even last season). The problem comes in when the other parts of his game (Scoring, PP, and dominant games from time to time) aren't there.

My point is that's what you get with Eric and it won't change. Best case: a 70-80 point player, who plays a lot of tough minutes, is good at face-offs, rarely misses games, and can be dominant at times on the plus side....but isn't great defensively on a consistent basis, is inconsistent in his overall play from game to game, is streaky within a season, doesn't backcheck hard consistently, and "appears" at times to not give full effort....on the negative side.

I don't see that changing.

 

[TheBigKahuna]

Who Friesen? You're definitely not alone in that opinion, I think about half the guys from the beer league team a few of us are on would do the same thing as their first move.

Yep. It's no secret that I think his methods are wacky and simply not working. How many seasons did the Canes get handicapped right out of the gate with half their starters going down with "groin pulls"? That's on the trainer. And how much longer are they going to tolerate having a head trainer who thinks having a roster full of 98 pound weaklings is the answer? Supposedly, during Jordan's first offseason as a Cane, Pete made it his mission to get Jordan to drop 40 pounds. At what point in his career as a Pen, was his weight an issue? Pete loves BMI charts. I've heard several versions of this story, but supposedly Jordan did drop some weight. I've heard it was only 15-20, and then the Tripp Tracy version was closer to 40 pounds. Anyhow, it had no good effect at all on his play on the ice, and he had a poor statistical season. Could be his bad team, could have been his weight. But making it your mission to get 40 pounds off your biggest player, because some BMI chart says he should weight 190 pounds, is ridiculous. Jordan Staal is a 240 pound guy, period. Look at how many guys got "skinny" under Pete's tutelage. How many of those guys got "better" on ice results? Skinner trains elsewhere, as does Faulk. Both of those guys have gotten bigger during their time here, and both have gotten better. If Pete had his way, Skinner would live up to his nickname and weight 160 pounds. The guy needs to step into the 21st century, or update his resume. His methods simply don't work. 6-3" players shouldn't weigh 199 pounds! And they don't need to be vegetarians!

 

[raynman]

...And they don't need to be vegetarians!

He advocates that the players eat a vegetarian diet?