John Muckler (April 13, 1934 – January 4, 2021) was a professional hockey coach and executive, who last served as the general manager of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Muckler had over 50 years of professional hockey experience as a part owner, general manager, director of player personnel, director of hockey operations, head coach, assistant coach and player. He had been a part of five

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

championships in various roles.

Bio

Born in

Midland, Ontario Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario. Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, ...

in 1934, and raised in

Paris, Ontario Paris (2021 population, 14,956) is a community located in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada. It lies just northwest from the city of Brantford at the spot where the Nith River empties into the Grand River. Paris was voted "the Prettiest Littl ...

, Muckler was a defenceman in the minor leagues for 13 seasons, playing the bulk of his career in the

Eastern Hockey League The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league. Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953) The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...

(EHL). Muckler began his professional coaching career as a player/coach in 1959 with the EHL's

New York Rovers The New York Rovers were a senior ice hockey team that was established in 1935. They played in the Eastern Hockey League as a farm team of the New York Rangers. The Rovers played alongside the Rangers in Madison Square Garden (1925), Madison Square ...

. He then spent the next 20 years in off-ice positions with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

and

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

before joining the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

organization in 1981. During those 20 years, Muckler served briefly as head coach of the North Stars in 1968–69, and won multiple regular-season titles, playoff championships and league coach-of-the-year honours in the minor leagues. For his successes, ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' named him the top coach in minor-league hockey in 1979. While with the Oilers, Muckler served as an assistant coach with the

winners under head coach/general manager

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. After the 1984-85 season, Sather began splitting most coaching duties with Muckler, who was named assistant head coach. He won two more Cups in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. When Sather relinquished his coaching duties in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

, Muckler was promoted to head coach and led the club to its fifth Stanley Cup in seven years in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. In 1991, Muckler left the Oilers organization and was hired by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

. Initially the club's director of hockey operations, he soon accepted the team's head coaching position and guided the Sabres for the next four seasons. He also assumed the role of Sabres' general manager in 1993. A finalist for the

Jack Adams Award The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." The league's Coach of the Year award has been presented 47 times to 39 coaches. The winner is selecte ...

as NHL coach of the year in 1994, Muckler stepped down from coaching in 1995 to focus on his front-office duties and was named "NHL Executive of the Year" by ''The Sporting News'' for the 1996–97 season. Sabres President

Larry Quinn Lawrence J. Quinn (born March 9, 1963) was an All-American lacrosse goaltender at the Johns Hopkins University from 1982 to 1985, leading the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1984 and 1985, and two additional fi ...

fired Muckler in the 1997 offseason. Muckler's last coaching position was as head coach of the New York Rangers from 1998 to 2000. His career coaching record is 276–288–84, combined with a 233–167–53–7 career record as an NHL general manager, and he has been involved in more than 2,000 professional games in varying roles. His résumé also includes three appearances at the

National Hockey League All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game (french: Match des Étoiles de la Ligue Nationale de Hockey, links=no) is an exhibition ice hockey game that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many o ...

and two appearances (1984 and 1987) on the coaching staff of the

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world ...

-winning

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics * Canada at the Paralympics * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at the Pan American Games Canada's national sport teams * Canada me ...

. Muckler joined the

as general manager in June 2002, and presided over what was arguably the team's most successful period. The team ultimately reached the

finals in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

but lost to the

Anaheim Ducks The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center. ...

in a five-game series. Despite this success, the Senators announced that Muckler had been fired on June 18, 2007. Head coach Bryan Murray was promoted to replace him. Muckler was hired as a senior advisor with the NHL's

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

in September 2008. In addition to his many years coaching and managing in the NHL, Muckler was also an assistant coach for the Canadian teams that won the 1984 and 1987 Canadian Cup tournaments.

Death

Muckler died in Buffalo on January 4, 2021. Muckler is survived by his wife, Audrey, four children and nine grandchildren.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

NHL coaching statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muckler, John 1934 births 2021 deaths Arizona Coyotes personnel Baltimore Clippers (1954–56) players Buffalo Sabres coaches Buffalo Sabres executives Charlotte Clippers players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) coaches Edmonton Oilers coaches Greensboro Generals (EHL) players Long Island Ducks (ice hockey) players Minnesota North Stars coaches National Hockey League general managers New York Rangers coaches Ottawa Senators general managers People from Midland, Ontario Stanley Cup champions Stanley Cup championship-winning head coaches Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players