After just 17 games as head coach of the Milwaukee Admirals, Kirk Muller has been hired as the new coach of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes. Muller takes over for Paul Maurice, who was fired this morning. Assistant Ian Herbers will be introduced as the new Admirals coach this afternoon at a 3:00 news conference.
Muller has never been a head coach in the NHL before, but was an assistant for the previous five seasons before replacing Lane Lambert on the Milwaukee bench. Prior to beginning his coaching career, Muller was a player for 19 seasons in the NHL, skating for New Jersey, Montreal, New York (Islanders), Toronto, Florida, and Dallas.
Muller led the Admirals to a 10-6-0-1 record this season.
Doug Russell has been covering Milwaukee and Wisconsin sports for over 20 years on radio, television, magazines, and now at OnMilwaukee.com.
Over the course of his career, the Edward R. Murrow Award winner and Emmy nominee has covered the Packers in Super Bowls XXXI, XXXII and XLV, traveled to Pasadena with the Badgers for Rose Bowls, been to the Final Four with Marquette, and saw first-hand the entire Brewers playoff runs in 2008 and 2011. Doug has also covered The Masters, several PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, and Kentucky Derbys; the Davis Cup, the U.S. Open, and the Sugar Bowl, along with NCAA football and basketball conference championships, and for that matter just about anything else that involves a field (or court, or rink) of play.
Doug was a sports reporter and host at WTMJ-AM radio from 1996-2000, before taking his radio skills to national syndication at Sporting News Radio from 2000-2007. From 2007-2011, he hosted his own morning radio sports show back here in Milwaukee, before returning to the national scene at Yahoo! Sports Radio last July. Doug's written work has also been featured in The Sporting News, Milwaukee Magazine, Inside Wisconsin Sports, and Brewers GameDay.
Doug and his wife, Erika, split their time between their residences in Pewaukee and Houston, TX.
