As reported by several mainstream news outlets yesterday, Kirk Muller signed on with the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach for the next two years. He and Ken Hitchcock have history together back to their days in Dallas and this seems like a good fit for him.
Here is an article in TSN, (it's sometimes interesting to read these comments from fans around the league.)
According to tidbits on Twitter, Muller was also under consideration to be assistant in Toronto, but felt more comfortable going to St. Louis and working with Hitchcock.
Here are a few good quotes from Muller from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"I'm familiar with (Armstrong and Ken Hitchcock) from the Dallas days. Hitch coached me, Doug was the GM when I was playing. I just know that they're hardworking guys and the team really patterns off their work habits. I love the style and the type of team they've put together. I just thought they were guys I'm familiar with and can continue to learn a lot from and kind of just grow together."
"The feedback I got is that it's a group of hungry guys that really want to win," Muller said. "I think the biggest thing is sometimes if someone has been there and won, you can relate to it. But I think the biggest thing is, let's look at what we can do day by day and go through the process to just get better as a team and as players individually, and not worry about the results at the end. I think that's the fun thing, the process.
"You can build a relationship with the players and say, 'Hey, I've been there and I can help you,' and I'm so excited to have fun with these guys to do that."
"You know what, a big reason I came (to St. Louis) was my respect for him," Muller said. "He's such a great coach. I always said when I was in Dallas, one thing he does is he prepares his teams well. So that's going to be a lot of fun.
"My job is to get him in the same condition as the players," Muller adding, laughing.
It is good to see Muller laughing again. If he can get Hitchcock into game shape, he has done something.
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In other news, here is a link to another article about Carolina's head coaching options:
Breaking Down Carolina's coaching options
Perhaps Dan Bylsma's name will soon be added to the list of candidates?
And yet another article, this time from the Bleacher Report, indicating that Ron Francis should not hire a friend or former teammate.
I see nothing wrong with hiring a former teammate as long as they are qualified, but the author does have a valid point.
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We will have another round table discussion posted tomorrow and another article with a poll after that.