MUCKLER MOURNED
Was Sens GM in Cup quest
The long forgotten name of Tyler Arnason fell out of the memory banks Tuesday when remembering the life and times of John Muckler.
Muckler, who pulled the strings as general manager of the Ottawa Senators during some of the most turbulent and some of the most successful days in the franchise's history, died Monday. He was 86.
He was passionate in his attempts to build a winner in Ottawa, which leads to an Arnason anecdote.
While Arnason is a mere footnote in Senators history, registering four assists in 19 games after being acquired in a trade in 2006, Muckler had his back.
When yours truly criticized Arnason's early play with the Senators, Muckler took issue during a heated conversation outside the dressing room at a morning skate in Buffalo, loud enough that players and media nearby stopped to listen.
During that lively chat, Muckler talked about his history coaching Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier during the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, and his time spent coaching and managing with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers in the 1990s.
There's certainly no arguing the Oilers' success, and Muckler is one of the select few people in the hockey world who have a Stanley Cup ring for every finger on one hand.
Part of the coaching staff for the five championships in Edmonton, Muckler might have won another as GM in Ottawa in 2007 if not for the presence of the powerhouse Anaheim Ducks defence tandem of Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer.
Or perhaps a Cup would have come in 2006, if goaltender Dominik Hasek could have played through an adductor injury.
Muckler definitely presided over intriguing times while with the Senators.
He replaced Marshall Johnston as general manager in 2002, when the club was loaded with young and emerging talent and amid the fragile financial state of the franchise.
When new owner Eugene Melnyk arrived in 2003, Muckler had his ear in the push to win the Stanley Cup.
After the Senators lost in the first round of the 2004 playoffs, Muckler fired coach Jacques Martin and replaced him with Bryan Murray. Ultimately, Murray took over GM duties from Muckler following the Senators' 2007 Stanley Cup final loss.
In stark contrast to today's mandate of rebuilding with youth, Muckler's time was more about inheriting an already competitive Senators squad and attempting to push them over the top.
There's plenty to chew on here. In some ways Muckler was a forward-thinker, telling Postmedia in 2003 that the NHL needed to open up to add more scoring, suggesting that shootouts to decide tie games would eventually become reality. The NHL added shootouts following the 2004-05 lockout.
At the same time, though, Muckler liked players who carried a physical edge, a throwback to an earlier era.
There were many bold moves: some successful, some not so much.
In the summer of 2005, unhappy with Marian Hossa's new threeyear, US$18-million contract, Muckler traded him to the Atlanta Thrashers for Dany Heatley.
Heatley delivered a pair of 50-goal seasons and the line of Heatley, Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson was one of the NHL's most potent units for two seasons.
Hossa, however, is now in the Hall of Fame after scoring 525 goals and 609 assists for 1,134 points in 1,309 regular season games and winning the Stanley Cup three times.
In an outside-the-box decision, Muckler also brought Hasek out of retirement to play in 2005-06. Everything went swimmingly until the goaltender was injured while playing for the Czech Republic at the Olympics. Hasek never dressed for Ottawa again, but he returned to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008.
As difficult as it is to imagine now, the Senators were in a salary-cap crunch in the summer of 2006, forced to make a decision on whether to keep Zdeno Chara or Wade Redden.
Muckler and Co. — it was an organizational decision, not solely in the hands of the GM — opted to keep Redden. After spending more 14 seasons with the Boston Bruins, the 43-year-old Chara is coming back for a 23rd NHL season with the Washington Capitals.
That summer also saw the Senators say goodbye to forward Martin Havlat in a three-team trade that brought the Senators Tom Preissing, Josh Hennessy and Michal Barinka.
In the hard push toward the Cup in 2007, the Senators were in the hunt to acquire forward Gary Roberts, then with the Florida Panthers, at the trade deadline. Muckler passed on that move, saying the price was too high. Instead the Senators acquired Oleg Saprykin. Roberts was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a defenceman named Noah Welch.
The Senators were one of the most talented teams in the NHL during Muckler's tenure, a threat every season.
He often swung for the fences, unafraid to give up top draft picks in hopes of finding a missing piece or two.
Arnason, for instance, was acquired for a package that included a second-round draft pick.
After Muckler's departure, it took some time for the organization to restock the draft cupboard, but the Senators haven't been as close to the Cup as they were after losing to Anaheim in 2007.
Rest in peace.