Leafs Sign Marcel Mueller
PostedCOLON Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:42 pm
From Salzig - HF boardsWell he came to us in 2007 and played on the 4th line. He had 13 points (6+7) in 44 games with 61 PIM. He wasn't good enough to play a major role but he did his job on the 4th line pretty well. We were the runner-up in that season.
In the next season (2008/09) he had 25 points (11+14) and played a bigger role. But our whole team struggled and we never found a way to win. We finnished next to last (as the runner-up in the previous season!) and had a horrible year. Our supposed star player Mike Johnson was sent home because of his lack of effort. This shows that the players weren't "hungry" and were lazy. Müller worked hard and became one of the fans favorites. Btw: we had three different coaches during that season.
In the last season he had 56 points (24+32) in 53 games. We had another rough year and our coach was fired in early November (iirc). Müller was a first liner and played very, very well. He was our best forward an was always present. In addition, he got 4 points (0+4) in 3 play off games. He had a huge streak during that season with his line mates Jason Jaspers and Ivan Ciernik and were really dominant. Unfortunately it seems like Müller was a bit too confident at the and of that streak and he overplayed the puck repeatedly which was unusual for him. But this was a very short phase. Other than there is nothing to criticize him for.
I hope that I was able to show how he developed in the last three years. This is why he wasn't taken in the past drafts, he is a power forward and needed his time to develop.
He is a fast and physical player who loves to hit and has a great heart. He is confident and he can protect the puck well. He loves to battle on the boards and is able to win most of those battles. He likes to crash the net (I think the smaller ice will work well for him) and likes to shoot, too. He's also able to make some nice dekes and his puck control (as I already said) is very good. Moreover he isn't very selfish and I assume that he'll definitely pass the puck more often in NA. If you're looking for a weakness it's hard to find one. He had 122 PIM in his final year - but that's not a good indicator because the international rules are pretty decent. His discipline isn't the best in the world but I think he'll work on that.
Edit: I forgot to mention that he started this season as a defender because we had bad luck with injuries in the beginning of the season. Even more impressive that he was still able to finnish over 1 PPG.
If I compare him to Gogulla I'd take Müller all the time. Not just because his numbers are better - Müller is always present on the ice while Gogulla disappeared on some nights. Müller is able to carry a whole line and is also able to bring some energy to the game.
Edit: I found my source again. Here (but it's in German)
Quote:
SPOX: Wenn Sie es in die NHL schaffen würden, könnten Sie regelmäßig gegen Heatley, Thornton und Co. antreten. Warum wurden Sie eigentlich nicht gedraftet? Haben die Scouts geschlafen?
Müller: (lacht) Das ist eine gute Frage, die ich nicht beantworten kann. Das müssen Sie die NHL-Scouts fragen. Es hat nie jemand mit mir gesprochen. Inzwischen gibt es weitläufig ein paar lose Kontakte, aber nichts Konkretes. Wenn ich die Chance bekommen würde, in ein Trainigscamp zu gehen und mich über die Minor Leagues hochzuarbeiten, würde ich diese aber sicher wahrnehmen.
Ok I'll translate it:
Quote:
SPOX: If you ever make it to the NHL, you'll be able to play against Heatley, Thornton and others. Why haven't you been drafted yet? Did the souts miss you?
Müller: (laughing) That's a good question, I don't know. You have to ask the scouts. No one had ever talked to me. I've got some relations now, but nothing too serious. If I get the chance to go to a camp or to work my way through the minors, I'll take that chance.
