At the end of the day, the games are won and lost by the players on the ice. But that's not to say that coaching doesn't play a significant part in how that goes. In this day and age of intense scouting and video work, I think it's real hard to gain a huge edge in terms of system, Xs & Os, etc. But I also think that in this age of free agent movement, salary caps and trade deadline deals, I think the people management part of coaching is more important than ever. And that is where I think Canes Coach Kirk Muller has excelled so far in the abbreviated 2013 season. There have been no huge speeches, no controversial and noisy challenges to players or much else to make a fuss in the media or elsewhere. It has been reasonably quiet and subtle which I think makes it even more impressive.

The string of events as I saw them went like this:

--The Canes started the season with 2 horrible and resounding losses. The team was obviously not even close to ready to play regular season hockey. In a normal season, you might actually blame the coach for this start. But obviously in the 1-week chaos of training camp this year, there was very little the coach could do except hope for the best. Canes fans (myself included) were uptight about the start. Muller went to work behind the scenes and with some lineup tinkering but maybe most importantly with a sense of calm. He gave his backup goalie a chance to make a difference. He moved Boychuk, who was not working off the top line. He tinkered with the options on defense.

The near-term result was early involvement and a win by Dan Ellis, a gradually improving defense and a stabilization of things with a couple wins.

--Over the course of the next week or so, he managed to jumpstart a couple struggling veterans. There was no disrespectful and rift-creating tirade in the press. There was no public version of calling them out. Rather, Muller fairly quiety gave Ellis the chance to play both halves of a back-to-back, because he earned it. He also made Joe Corvo the 7th defenseman in the press box because that is where he ranked in terms of play. The result was a determined Cam Ward that led the Canes to a couple big wins on the road followed by a couple more wins in which Joe Corvo was 1 of the best 3-4 players on the ice each night.

--Along the way Muller has continued to keep Ellis involved choosing to keep him in the mix (with a win to make him 3-1) . He found a solid complementary wing for the EStaal/Semin combo in Jiri Tlusty. He navigated the longest road trip of the season with a 4-1-1 record coming home (and still in) 1st place. And he has found combinations that are getting production from about everyone except the 3rd line.

--On the topic of the 3rd line, Muller has again been quietly working things. There has been no extra attention drawn to the struggles of Jussi Jokinen. Muller has smartly left Jokinen on the power play hoping to use this more favorable offensive situation to jumpstart his game. He has managed a couple power play goals of late. So far it has not transferred into the 5-on-5 game with his line, but the hope is that it will.

I think Kirk Muller's work so far in 2013 calls out the advantage he has as a long-time player, a captain, a player who had good stretches, a player who had slumps even if he was working hard, etc. He has been in every situation that his players will endure and has the context to work the people management part of his job masterfully.

What did I miss? What else for Kirk Muller so far in 2013?

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Go Canes!

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