We're now 32 games into the Captain Kirk Era of Hurricanes hockey, so I thought I'd take a look back on how this season's team compares under the 2 coaches. Obviously there are a few personnel changes, but nothing really major (except for getting rid of Kaberle). It also appears that there will not be many personnel changes heading into next season, so lets see what we might expect based on Kirk's current tenure.

What I will do is a basic statisical analysis of the team's primary stats between the 2 coaches, then a player breakdown when Mo was coach, then a player breakdown with Muller (so far), and I will finish it up with a side-by-side player breakdown based on a full 82 games under each coach. I believe all of my numbers are fairly accurate, but don't kill me if something is slightly off. Also, some of the "full 82 game" numbers might be a little skewed due to some players having a very limited number of games under a particular coach. No stats are perfect, but they may give us some insight on the performance of the team or certain players.

Here are the basic team numbers under Maurice and Muller.

Maurice: 25 games - 8 wins, 13 losses, 4 OT losses; that's a 32% win percentage. The Canes scored 60 goals under Maurice for a 2.4 goals per game average. The Canes allowed 81 goals for a 3.24 goals against average. We were 14 of 115 on the PP for 12.2% and we were 73 of 91 on the PK for 80.2%. If you project those numbers out; we would have ended up 26-43-13 for 65 points.

Muller: 32 games - 13 wins, 12 losses, 7 OT losses; that's a 41% win percentage. The Canes have scored 87 goals for a 2.72 goals per game average. The Canes have allowed 90 goals for a 2.81 goals against average. We are 19 of 98 on the PP for 19.4% and we are 60 of 80 on the PK for 75%. If you project these numbers out over 82 games; we would end up 33-31-18 for 84 points.

If the numbers are correct, neither coach would have gotten us in the playoffs this season. But we have shown some improvement recently under Muller, so 5-1-4 over our past 10 games. Our more up-tempo games has resulted in us scoring 0.41 more goals per game and has also led to a 0.43 decrease in our goals against. We are still being outscored by the opposition, but the margin is a lot closer. Another "big" positive difference is our PP %, we have increase our PP by 7.2%. A 19.4% PP would be ranked 7th in the league as compared to where we currently are at 23rd. A negative is that we have 17 less PP's under Muller in 7 more games. Another negative is our PK; which has decreased by 5.2%. We are not going on the PK as much under Muller, but our 75% under Muller would rank dead last in the league. Overall, we are in a lot better position now than we were under Maurice, but there is still a lot of improvement that needs to be made if we are looking to make the playoffs next season.

Here are the basic player numbers under Maurice and Muller:

Maurice/Muller

Allen - 25gp, 0g, 4a, 4p, 0.16ppg, +3 rating / 32gp, 0g, 4a, 4p, 0.13ppg, -3 rating

Bowman - 2gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, 0.00ppg, E rating / 14gp, 2g, 4a, 6p, 0.43ppg, -3 rating

Boychuk - 13gp, 0g, 2a, 2p, 0.15ppg, -1 rating / has not played under Muller

Brent - 25gp, 2g, 3a, 5p, 0.20ppg, -1 rating / 29gp, 6g, 6a, 12p, 0.41ppg, -2 rating

Dalpe - 9gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, 0.00ppg, -1 rating / 7gp, 1g, 2a, 3p, 0.43ppg, -2 rating

Dwyer - 25gp, 3g, 3a, 6p, 0.24ppg, -1 rating / 27gp, 2g, 1a, 3p, 0.11ppg, +1 rating

Faulk - 9gp, 0g, 2a, 2p, 0.22ppg, -9 rating / 32gp, 4g, 7a, 11p, 0.34ppg, E rating

Gleason - 25gp, 0g, 6a, 6p, 0.24ppg, +1 rating / 32gp, 1g, 8a, 9p, 0.28ppg, +4 rating

Harrison - 23gp, 2g, 7a, 9p, 0.39ppg, -5 rating / 23gp, 5g, 6a, 11p, 0.48ppg, +3 rating

Jokinen - 22gp, 4g, 11a, 15p, 0.68ppg, -1 rating / 32gp, 3g, 11a, 14p, 0.44ppg, -2 rating

Joslin - 6gp, 0g, 1a, 1p, 0.17ppg, -1 rating / 15gp, 1g, 0a, 1p, 0.07ppg, -7 rating

Kaberle - 24gp, 0g, 5a, 5p, 0.21ppg, -10 rating / 5gp, 0g, 4a, 4p, 0.80ppg, -2 rating

LaRose - 25gp, 6g, 9a, 15p, 0.60ppg, -11 rating / 23gp, 5g, 2a, 7p, 0.30ppg, -7 rating

McBain - 21gp, 0g, 6a, 6p, 0.29ppg, -4 rating / 25gp, 5g, 9a, 14p, 0.56ppg, -2 rating

Nash - did not play under Maurice / 5gp, 0g, 1a, 1p, 0.20ppg, +1 rating

Nodl - did not play under Maurice / 31gp, 2g, 3a, 5p, 0.16ppg, -1 rating

Pitkanen - 17gp, 3g, 6a, 9p, 0.53ppg, -11 rating / 4gp, 0g, 3a, 3p, 0.75ppg, -1 rating

Ponikarovsky - 25gp, 6g, 3a, 9p, 0.36ppg, -4 rating / 24gp, 1g, 5a, 6p, 0.25ppg, -7 rating

Ruutu - 25gp, 7g, 4a, 11p, 0.44ppg, E rating / 32gp, 10g, 8a, 18p, 0.56ppg, +3 rating

Samson - did not play under Maurice / 3gp, 1g, 0a, 1p, 0.33ppg, -2 rating

Skinner - 25gp, 9g, 12a, 21p, 0.84ppg, -5 rating / 15gp, 6g, 3a, 9p, 0.60ppg, -5 rating

Spacek - did not play under Maurice / 20gp, 2g, 4a, 6p, 0.30ppg, E rating

Staal - 25gp, 5g, 6a, 11p, 0.44ppg, -17 rating / 32gp, 11g, 22a, 33p, 1.03ppg, -1 rating

Stewart - 21gp, 4g, 0a, 4p, 0.19ppg, -2 rating / 32gp, 2g, 8a, 10p, 0.31ppg, +6 rating

Sutter16 - 25gp, 5g, 4a, 9p, 0.36ppg, -2 rating / 32gp, 7g, 6a, 13p, 0.41ppg, E rating

Sutter42 - 8gp, 0g, 3a, 3p, 0.38ppg, -1 rating / 7gp, 0g, 0a, 0p, 0.00ppg, E rating

Tlusty - 25gp, 4g, 5a, 9p, 0.36ppg, -7 rating / 32gp, 9g, 5a, 14p, 0.44ppg, +11 rating

All-in-all, 14 players improved their PPG average under Muller, 8 decreased their PPG production, and 5 players only played under either Maurice or Muller. 14 players also improved their +/- rating under Muller, 7 decreased, 1 stayed the same, and 5 again only played under either Maurice or Muller. Now some players numbers like Pitkanen & Kaberle are skewed because of the very limited games they saw under Muller. Pitkanen & Kaberle had a couple of good games under Muller before being injured or traded. Staal probably saw the biggest increase; going from a 0.44ppg player to a 1.03ppg player and having a +/- rating of -17 under Maurice, while only having a -1 under Muller. Tlusty, McBain, Brent, and Faulk have also seen a significant improvement to their PPG average or +/- rating. Others like Ruutu, Sutter, and "the kids" have generally seen slight improvement under Muller. LaRose and Joslin has probably seen the biggest drop-off under Muller. But Skinner, Jokinen, Dwyer, and Ponikarovsky (now gone) have seen their production slip some. I guess what works for some doesn't necessarily work for others, but that's how it goes when a coaching change happens.

Here are the 82 game projected numbers under Maurice and Muller:

Maurice/Muller

Allen - 0g, 13a, 13p, +10 rating / 0g, 10a, 10p, -8 rating

Bowman - 0g, 0a, 0p, E rating / 12g, 23a, 35p, -18 rating

Boychuk - 0g, 13a, 13p, -6 rating / has not played under Maurice

Brent - 7g, 10a, 17p, -3 rating / 17g, 17a, 34p, -6 rating

Dalpe - 0g, 0a, 0p, -9 rating / 12g, 23a, 35p, -23 rating

Dwyer - 10g, 10a, 20p, -3 rating / 6g, 3a, 9p, +3 rating

Faulk - 0g, 18a, 18p, -82 rating / 10g, 18a, 28p, E rating

Gleason - 0g, 20a, 20p, +3 rating / 3g, 21a, 24p, +10 rating

Harrison - 7g, 25a, 32p, -18 rating / 18g, 21a, 39p, +11 rating

Jokinen - 15g, 41a, 56p, -4 rating / 8g, 28a, 36p, -5 rating

Joslin - 0g, 14a, 14p, -14 rating / 5g, 0a, 5p, -38 rating

Kaberle - 0g, 17a, 17p, -34 rating / numbers skewed

LaRose - 20g, 30a, 50p, -36 rating / 18g, 7a, 25p, -25 rating

McBain - 0g, 23a, 23p, -16 rating / 16g, 30a, 46p, -7 rating

Nash - did not play under Maurice / 0g, 16a, 16p, +16 rating

Nodl - did not play under Maurice / 5g, 8a, 13p, -3 rating

Pitkanen - 14g, 29a, 43p, -53 rating / numbers skewed

Ponikarovsky - 20g, 10a, 30p, -13 rating / 3g, 17a, 20p, -24 rating

Ruutu - 23g, 13a, 36p, E rating / 26g, 21a, 47p, +8 rating

Samson - did not play under Maurice / numbers skewed

Skinner - 30g, 39a, 69p, -16 rating / 33g, 16a, 49p, -27 rating

Spacek - did not play under Maurice / 8g, 16a, 24p, E rating

Staal - 16g, 20a, 36p, -56 rating / 28g, 56a, 84p, -3 rating

Stewart - 16g, 0a, 16p, -8 rating / 5g, 21a, 26p, +15 rating

Sutter16 - 16g, 13a, 29p, -7 rating / 18g, 15a, 33p, E rating

Sutter42 - 0g, 31a, 31p, -10 rating / 0g, 0a, 0p, E rating

Tlusty - 13g, 16a, 29p, -23 rating / 23g, 13a, 36p, +28 rating

Take these "projected numbers" whoever you want. It seems like some of these numbers are what we would expect from certain players and some of these numbers seem really off. I just did this so you guys could see the differences between Maurice and Muller. I hope you enjoyed reading through this long, boring FanPost. It is a lot of numbers to digest :)