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| At the age of 39, Gulutzan is the second youngest head coach in the league. |
Exactly 2 years and a days ago the Texas Stars General Manager Scott White announced the hiring of the first ever head coach in the clubs history Glen Gulutzan. 2 years and a day later he is now the head coach of the Dallas Stars. Gulutzan was serving as the head coach of the Dallas Stars farm team in the AHL the Texas Stars these past two years. In the Texas Stars inaugural season back in 2009-2010 he and the Stars finished in second in their division posting a 46-27-7 record (.619 winning percentage). When the playoffs came around, the Stars were ready, Gulutzan and his Stars made it to the Calder Cup Finals against the former Calder Cup champion the Hershey Bears. Gulutzan and the Stars would end up blowing a 2-0 series lead and lose four straight to end their season losing in the finals. It was definitely an impressive season by Gulutzan and the Stars considering it was their first season in the AHL. Just last year was his second season behind the bench with the Texas Stars and the second year the Stars were in the league, and once again had another solid season. Texas posted a 41-29-10 record. Although Texas would end up being beaten in the first round of the playoffs in six games in the hands of the Milwaukee Admirals.
Gulutzan so far has succeed in every opportunity he has gotten. Gulutzan first coaching job was back in 2003, he coached in the ECHL for the Las Vegas Wranglers in their inaugural season all the way to the 2008-2009 season. Gulutzan and the Wranglers posted tremendous numbers for those years Gulutzan was behind the bench. In six seasons, they made the playoffs five times, made the Kelly Cup Finals in 2007-2008, and the National Conference Finals in 2008-2009. The team also had three straight 100+ point seasons with Gulutzan.
Former owner of the Las Vegas Wranglers Charles Davenport who had hired Gulutzan back in 2003 said "This was a matter of time, nobody is more prepared then Gully is. No matter what circumstance was thrown Gully's way, he was ready. Gully's a leader, and I look forward to watching him enjoy huge success in the NHL." (www.lasvegaswranglers.com/).
His last season with the Wranglers was in 2008-2009. When the season ended he packed his bags said his goodbyes and that's when he accepted the coaching job for the Texas Stars. His record in the ECHL is very impressive, he had 254 wins, 124 losses and 55 ties/extra time losses resulting in a .650 winning percentage. In the playoffs he was 67-36-31.
Back to present day, there was speculation going on since last week about the Stars hiring Gulutzan, but GM Joe Nieuwendyk didn't wanna say nothing since the Dallas Mavericks had just won the champions in the NBA. So today wasn't much of a surprise for Stars fans when it was made official today by Nieuwendyk, most of us knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when it was going to come.
"I am very excited to hire Glen Gulutzan as a head coach of the Dallas Stars. Glen is a young, exciting coach who we believe has a bright and long future in the National Hockey League. We were pleased with his development skills and the leadership he brought our young player at the American League level. We fee; he will bring energry and winning attitude to our club. I look forward to working with him as we plan for the future of the Dallas Stars," (www.stars.nhl.com) is what GM Joe Nieuwendyk had to say about his hiring today.
"I am thrilled to be the head coach of the Dallas Stars," said new Stars head coach Glen Gultzan. "Having worked with the organization over hte last two season, I am very familiar with our personnel and that will be a big advantage for me. I look forward to working with Joe Nieuwendyk and his entire staff to build a hockey club that will win and compete for Stanley Cups." (www.stars.nhl.com)
The Stars new head coach spoke to the media earlier today, he mentioned that he wants to make the Stars a two-way hockey club with some tempo. He feels that's the way hockey is today, that defensive hockey is really tough to play against, which is why he would like to make his new team a two-way hockey club.
Now that the Dallas Stars have their head coach, they could move on to the Draft which is held next week on the 24th and 25th and Free Agency on July 1st. And from these quotes from Nieuwy, expect some moves to improve the team "We'd like to improve our defense for sure.... it may be through trade" (defendingbigd). Nieuwendyk mentioned on the topic of improving the defense.
"I think we need a top six forward. Maybe we get there through a trade, too. I think the opportunity through trade is probably more likely scenario than overpaying through free agency" (defendingbigd). This time addressing the situation upfront. So even with no owner Nieuwendyk is doing everything he could to improve the team.
But who could we possibly trade? Grossman? Fistrict? Prospects? Picks? I just hope he doesn't make a lopsided trade on our part. I do have a bad feeling our 14th overall pick is up on the trade block, really hope those feelings are wrong. Whatever happens though, these next few weeks will be very exciting for Stars fans and fans from around the league.
Welcome to the NHL and the Dallas Stars Glen Gulutzan! Glad and excited to have you on board, wish you the best!
Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts and feedback! Hope you enjoyed it! Go Stars Go!
Friday, June 17, 2011
MB
Good read! :D
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