from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,

“It was a good, positive experience,” Muller said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I want to thank Jim for giving me that chance. I gained some good experience being here and I learned a lot. I think I’m a better coach now than when I started.”

A week earlier, Muller had watched from the back of the room as Francis was introduced as the Hurricanes’ new general manager. Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos, who spoke glowingly of Muller’s performance in a televised interview late in the season, sat beside Francis.

But Francis’ desire to start fresh led him to call Muller on Sunday and ask him to come into the office Monday. Their meeting was, according to both, cordial and professional, but it ended with Muller out of a job and two of his assistants, Dave Lewis and John MacLean, as well.

“It wasn’t like we lost the night before and came in the next day and boom, you’re gone,” said Muller, 48. “There was a three-week period of weighing what way it’s going to go. I was prepared for it.”

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