Kirk Muller: Captain Kirk to Captain Canuck

Kirk Muller goes all out playing for Team Canada in the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo.
Source: https://olympic.ca/team-canada/kirk-muller/
(May be subject to copyright)

Right now he may be one of the coaches recently fired by the Montreal Canadiens, but back in the 1980s Kirk Muller was a man synonymous with Team Canada, logging ice time with the World Junior Team, Olympic team then four different stints with Team Canada at the World Hockey championships.

Anytime his country asked, Kirk Muller answered the call, going from Captain Kirk to Captain Canuck.

Heading overseas
Muller got his first taste of international hockey, suiting up for Canada’s World Junior Hockey Championship team in December of 1983 and January of 1984 in Sweden, notching two goals and three assists for five points in seven games.* Canada would go on to take fourth place in the tournament.

Sarajevo calling
Kirk Muller first drew national attention when, as an 18-year-old, he joined Dave King and the Canadian Olympic team preparing for the 1984 games in Sarajevo.

Back then, professionals were not yet allowed to play in the Olympics, so Canada had to patch together a team of amateurs, made up of junior and college hockey players, professional players with limited experience, and a smattering of mature players.

Dave King had been tapped to coach the Olympic team after he led Canada to their first ever World Junior Hockey Championship in 1981. There he formed a connection with players he would later have on the Olympic team such as Jim Patrick and Carey Wilson.

Kirk Muller was on a line with Wilson and Pat Flatley, and he recorded two goals and an assist in six games. Canada won their first four games, defeating the defending champion United States, Austria, Finland, and Norway before losing to Czechoslovakia in their final round robin game then losing both medal round games to the Soviet Union and Sweden to finish fourth overall.

Junior sensation
It was during the Olympics that I first heard Muller played for the Guelph Platers of the Ontario Hockey League. He had played for them in the 1982-1983 season, scoring 52 goals and 60 assists for 112 points in 66 games, then split his time between the Platers and Olympic team in 1983-1984. He played 49 games for Guelph, scoring 31 goals and 63 assists for 94 points.

It was also his draft year. The consensus number one pick in the NHL entry draft was going to be Mario Lemieux who was tearing up the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but Muller was a solid prospect.

The New Jersey Devils, who had been brutal first as the Kansas City Scouts, then the Colorado Rockies and finally the New Jersey Devils, held true to form. They finished second last in the league, securing the second overall pick in the draft, behind Pittsburgh who had the worst record in hockey. After the Penguins selected Lemieux, the Devils used the second overall pick to select Kirk Muller.

He was going to NHL hell to be the newest Devil.

Muller at the Meadowlands
Kirk Muller made the Devils as an 18-year-old to start the 1984-1985 season, despite having two years of eligibility left with Guelph.

Muller was one of the best two-way players on a very bad team, that would only show one glimpse of hope in the ‘80s. In his rookie season he recorded 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 points. He followed that up with 25 goals and 41 assists for 66 points in 1985-1986; 26 goals and 50 assists for 76 points in 1986-1987; then had a career high 37 goals and 57 assists for 94 points in 1987-1988. He closed out the decade in 1988-1989 with 31 goals and 43 assists for 74 points.

He was named captain of the Devils prior to the 1987-1988 season.

In that period, the Devils made the playoffs just once, in that same 1987-1988 season he was named captain and recorded his career high in points.

One of the perks of not making the playoffs was that he was asked to play for Team Canada in each of the four seasons the Devils did not make the playoffs.

Back overseas
The first year he suited up for Team Canada was in 1985 in Prague where he notched two goals and two assists in 10 games for four points. His effort helped Canada to an upset over the Soviets, their first win against them since 1961, and a surprising silver medal after losing in the final game to Czechoslovakia.

He was back in 1986 where he had four goals and three assists for seven points in nine games in Moscow as Canada won bronze, defeating Finland for the third place.

In 1987, Muller travelled to Vienna where he had two goals in 10 games as Canada finished fourth.

Muller got his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs when the Devils advanced all the way to Game 7 of the semi-finals in 1988 before losing to my beloved Boston Bruins. However, he returned to the World Championships in 1989 when the Devils again missed the playoffs. Muller rounded out the decade, playing for Team Canada in Stockholm, where he had six goals and four assists for 10 points in nine games. Again he helped Canada to another silver medal, finishing second to the Soviets.

The years after
Muller played with New Jersey until the end of the 1990-1991 season. He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens where he won the Stanley Cup at the end of the 1992-1993 season and was named captain for the 1994-1995 season.

He would be traded to the New York Islanders part way through that season then go on to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars.

He retired at the end of the 2002-2003 season, finishing with 357 career goals and 602 assists for 959 points in 1,349 games. He also played 127 playoff games, recording 33 goals and 36 assists for 69 points.

Parting thoughts
After a grueling NHL season, not everyone wants to keep playing if their team misses the playoffs. Many are asked but not everyone accepts.

Kirk Muller never refused. His team rarely contended for a playoff spot in the 1980s, so he was always available to play for Team Canada – and he always accepted. He would log 38 games in four tournaments for Canada in the World Hockey Championships, helping his country win two silver medals and a bronze.

However, his commitment to country began long before that when he was just 18 years old, donning the maple leaf for Canada’s World Junior and Olympic hockey teams in 1984. All told, he played 51 games for his country.

He would go on to captain two NHL teams, win a Stanley Cup, and play in six NHL all-star games, but what marked his career in the 1980s was his sustained commitment to playing for Team Canada.

Ironically, once the decade ended, Kirk Muller would never play another international game. He was finally on teams that made the playoffs, so he was unavailable for the national team.

So, he may have been Captain Kirk for much of his career, but in the ‘80s for five years, he made his mark as Captain Canuck.

*According to the Hockey Canada website. Wikipedia says he had two goals and an assist, which happen to be the same numbers listed in his Olympic team stats on the line below.