The Stars have offered their head coaching vacancy to Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. They’ve yet to agree on a contract but are expected to announce him as their new bench boss in the near future.
The hiring will kick off Gulutzan’s second stint in the Stars organization. They’re the team that gave him his first NHL head coaching gig back in 2011, promoting him after he served as the head coach of AHL Texas for two seasons. His two-year run with Dallas was forgettable – a 64-57-9 record (.527) and no playoff appearances led to his dismissal after two seasons. He then joined the Canucks’ bench as an assistant for three years before resurfacing as head coach of the Flames, where he posted a 82-68-14 record (.543) before again being let go after two years. Calgary made the playoffs under Gulutzan in 2017 but was swept by the Ducks in the first round.
Gulutzan, 53, returns to Dallas hoping for better results this time around. He’ll have a much better roster to help him out. While he bounced from team to team for much of the 2010s, the now-53-year-old caught on as an assistant coach in Edmonton after being fired by the Flames and has remained there until today. He’s helped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances on Kris Knoblauch’s staff, beating the Stars in the Western Conference Final on both occasions.
The former ECHL Coach of the Year with the Las Vegas Wranglers will take over for Peter DeBoer, who was a surprise firing after Dallas was bounced in this year’s WCF. Reports indicated the relationship between DeBoer and starting goaltender Jake Oettinger had rapidly deteriorated after DeBoer pulled him from their Game 5 season-ending loss early.
His new staff in Dallas remains to be seen. They already lost assistants Steve Spott to the Bruins and Misha Donskov to a role with Hockey Canada. It’s unclear if the lone remaining assistant, Alain Nasreddine, will return under Gulutzan.
Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports.
Not bad
Maybe for Glen,2nd times a charm.
You can go home afterall.
DeBoer is a much better coach, but Gulutzan is probably nicer to his goalies.
Personally, I was hoping Neil Graham would get the offer.
As a Stars fan, I completely agree
Should have hired Nei Grahaml
Hope this works out.Not sure it will