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Kirk Muller

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1966)

Summary

Canadian ice hockey player (born 1966)

Field	Value
name	Kirk Muller
image	Kirk Muller2.jpg
image_size	230px
caption	Muller at the Montreal Canadiens Alumni at the Legends Classic in 2008.
birth_date
birth_place	Kingston, Ontario, Canada
height_ft	6
height_in	0
weight_lb	205
position	Centre
shoots	Left
played_for	New Jersey Devils
Montreal Canadiens
New York Islanders
Toronto Maple Leafs
Florida Panthers
Dallas Stars
coached_for	Carolina Hurricanes
ntl_team	CAN
draft	2nd overall
draft_year	1984
draft_team	New Jersey Devils
career_start	1984
career_end	2003
career_start_coach	2005
website

Montreal Canadiens New York Islanders Toronto Maple Leafs Florida Panthers Dallas Stars

Kirk Christopher Muller (born February 8, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and current assistant coach with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in the NHL for 19 seasons from 1984–85 until 2002–03 with the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs and won the Stanley Cup in 1993 as member of the Montreal Canadiens. Muller also previously served as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes from 2011 to 2014, and was an associate coach with the Canadiens from 2016 to 2021 following a previous stint as assistant coach with the team between 2006–2011.

Playing career

Muller started his junior career with the Kingston Canadians of the Ontario Hockey League, but his most successful junior seasons were with the Guelph Platers. There was a dispute in 1984 between the Platers and the Canadian Olympic Team, who wanted Muller to play with them at the 1984 Winter Olympics. The Platers owner was upset over losing Muller for so much time, but eventually they came to an agreement and Muller played in the Olympics. He was drafted second overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft behind Mario Lemieux. Although New Jersey had a surprisingly successful run in the 1988 playoffs, they never became a serious Stanley Cup contender while Muller was with them. After walking out of training camp on September 16, 1991, over a contract dispute, he was traded along with Roland Melanson to the Montreal Canadiens for Stéphane Richer and Tom Chorske on September 20.

Muller quickly became a fan favourite in Montreal, and he helped them win the Stanley Cup in 1993. He was traded to the New York Islanders during the 1994–95 NHL season. Initially, he was reluctant to report to the Islanders, then played a handful of games in an uninterested manner before team management decided that his poor attitude outweighed his potential contributions on the ice and barred him from the team. Eventually, the Islanders recalled Muller, but he refused to report, freeing the Islanders from their contractual obligations to pay him. Ultimately, Muller was traded at a discount to the Toronto Maple Leafs, in a three team trade that saw Muller and Don Beaupre go to the Maple Leafs, Martin Straka, Ken Belanger and the rights to Bryan Berard go to the Islanders while Damian Rhodes and the rights to Wade Redden went to the Ottawa Senators. Muller had his last 20 goal season with the Maple Leafs the next season, but he was traded to the Florida Panthers for prospect Jason Podollan as the Leafs fell out of the playoff picture.

Muller struggled in Florida, scoring just four goals in the whole 1998–99 NHL season. His last break came when he signed with the Dallas Stars in the middle of the 1999–2000 season. He spent four seasons with the Stars on a line that included Mike Keane and John MacLean. He retired at the end of the 2002–03 season.

Muller played in 6 NHL All-Star Games (1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993.)

Coaching career

Muller began his coaching career with the Queen's University Golden Gaels in his hometown of Kingston. During 2005-06, Muller's Golden Gaels posted an 8-13-1-2 record in the Ontario University Athletics Conference.

Muller also held the title of assistant coach to Marc Habscheid with Team Canada, winning the gold medal at the 2005 Lotto Cup Tournament in Slovakia. In March 2006, he served as assistant coach to Greg Gilbert at the Under-18 World Championship.

Muller returned to the Montreal Canadiens on June 20, 2006, when he was named assistant coach of the Canadiens.

On June 27, 2011, the Nashville Predators announced that Muller had been hired as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. On November 28, 2011, Muller became coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, taking over for Paul Maurice. On May 5, 2014, Muller was relieved of his coaching duties by the Carolina Hurricanes. On May 13, 2014, Muller was signed by the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach.

On June 2, 2016, the Montreal Canadiens rehired Muller as an associate coach.

On August 13, 2020, Muller temporarily replaced head coach Claude Julien who was hospitalized with chest pains.

On February 24, 2021, Muller along with head coach Claude Julien were fired from the Canadiens and former assistant coach Dominique Ducharme took over as interim head coach.

On June 10, 2021, Kirk Muller was named an associate coach for the Calgary Flames under head coach Darryl Sutter. He was named an assistant coach for the Washington Capitals on July 20, 2023.

Records

New Jersey Devils franchise record for points in a single game (6) – Oct. 29, 1986
New Jersey Devils franchise record for assists in a single game (5) – Mar. 25, 1987

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

		Regular season		Playoffs	Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1980–81	Kingston Voyageurs	MetJHL	42	17	37	54	5	—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	Kingston Canadians	OMJHL	2	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	Kingston Canadians	OHL	67	12	39	51	27	4	5	1	6	4
1982–83	Guelph Platers	OHL	66	52	60	112	41	—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Guelph Platers	OHL	49	31	63	94	27	—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Canada	Intl	15	2	2	4	16	—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	New Jersey Devils	NHL	80	17	37	54	69	—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	New Jersey Devils	NHL	77	25	41	66	45	—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	New Jersey Devils	NHL	79	26	50	76	75	—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	New Jersey Devils	NHL	80	37	57	94	114	20	4	8	12	37
1988–89	New Jersey Devils	NHL	80	31	43	74	119	—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	New Jersey Devils	NHL	80	30	56	86	74	6	1	3	4	11
1990–91	New Jersey Devils	NHL	80	19	51	70	76	7	0	2	2	10
1991–92	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	78	36	41	77	86	11	4	3	7	31
1992–93	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	80	37	57	94	77	20	10	7	17	18
1993–94	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	76	23	34	57	96	7	6	2	8	4
1994–95	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	33	8	11	19	33	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	New York Islanders	NHL	12	3	5	8	14	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	New York Islanders	NHL	15	4	3	7	15	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	36	9	16	25	42	6	3	2	5	0
1996–97	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	66	20	17	37	85	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Florida Panthers	NHL	10	1	2	3	4	5	1	2	3	4
1997–98	Florida Panthers	NHL	70	8	21	29	54	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Florida Panthers	NHL	82	4	11	15	49	—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Dallas Stars	NHL	47	7	15	22	24	23	2	3	5	18
2000–01	Dallas Stars	NHL	55	1	9	10	26	10	1	3	4	12
2001–02	Dallas Stars	NHL	78	10	20	30	28	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Dallas Stars	NHL	55	1	5	6	18	12	1	1	2	8

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts
1984	Canada	WJC	7	2	1	3	16
1984	Canada	OG	6	2	1	3	0
1985	Canada	WC	10	2	2	4	12
1986	Canada	WC	9	4	3	7	12
1987	Canada	WC	10	2	0	2	8
1989	Canada	WC	9	6	4	10	6

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season	Postseason	G	W	L	OTL	Pts
57	25	20	12	(62)	5th in Southeast	—	—	Missed playoffs
48	19	25	4	42	3rd in Southeast	—	—	Missed playoffs
82	36	35	11	83	7th in Metropolitan	—	—	Missed playoffs

References

Yannis, Alex. (1991-09-18). "Stevens Making No Plans to Report to Devils". [[The New York Times]].
(November 13, 1995). "Muller sent packing". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
(1997-03-19). "Traded Leaf Muller eyes title in Florida". [[Las Vegas Sun]].
"Kirk Muller Stats and News {{!".
"Kirk Muller - Assistant Coach". nhl.com.
"Milwaukee Admirals name Kirk Muller coach". nhl.com.
TSN.ca staff. (Nov 28, 2011). "Hurricanes replace head coach Maurice with Muller". TSN.ca.
(May 7, 2014). "Hurricanes fire coach Kirk Muller". ESPN.
(May 13, 2014). "Kirk Muller Joins Blues as Assistant Coach". NHL.com.
(June 2, 2016). "Muller de retour à Montréal". TVA Sports.
(August 13, 2020). "Julien heads home after stent procedure, Muller to coach Canadiens".
(February 24, 2021). "Claude Julien and Kirk Muller relieved of their coaching duties".
(June 10, 2021). "Flames hire former Canadiens associate coach Kirk Muller". Montreal Gazette.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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