Back in the saddle.......

With cooler weather settling in and summer soon to become a distant memory, hockey is creeping it's way back on to my radar.   I'm getting excited for this upcoming season, I think if the stars are aligned and our key players manage to stay healthy, this could be our year.

I've been listening to sports radio (as painful as it can be in the off season) and there seems to be a big kerfuffle over Kirk Muller's departure.  Quite frankly I've never bought into the idea (fantasy) that Kirk ran the team.  Yes he was often shown to be discussing strategy and drawing game plans with the players but more often than not it was about penalty killing or power play tactics.  That was his job, wasn't it?   I don't see how that tranlates into him running the team.   I also heard Kirk being interviewed not so long ago where he stated that Martin likes to get a lot of feedback from his players, he welcomes their suggestions and thoughts.  Shocking!  Not really what some of the media and fans wanted to hear.  I'm sure those comments were disregarded just as quickly as they were said.  Some people just want to hate on Martin regardless.  I say give the man a healthy decent roster and let's see what he can do with it this year.  He's managed to keep them competitive for the past two years in spite of the geriatric defense, the inconsistencies of the two top six lines and the Price versus Halak saga.   I also poo hoo the notion that the player's hate him.  The easiest thing a team can do to a coach is get him fired.  It's a no brainer, just stop playing for him.  Somehow the Habs taking the Bruins to overtime in game seven in the first playoff round seems to dispel that silly notion.  Well it does for me anyway.  If Muller was the brains and inspiration behind the team, why couldn't he right the ship when it was going down with all hands on deck in 2009?  All of these questions should be answered by the end of the season.  As much as Martin will finally have a fair chance to prove his mettle, so will Muller as a head coach in the AHL.