FRISCO, Texas – It’s been over a month since the Dallas Stars fired head coach Marc Crawford and thus far, the organization has yet to narrow a list of candidates to interview for the position, but GM Joe Niewendyk isn’t worried.
Niwendyk has stated that he has been waiting to see how the resolution of the Stars’ ownership situation would play out before moving forward on the search for Crawford’s replacement but believes that the organization is in a position to begin moving forward with their search.
Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi is currently working through an exclusive negotiating period in order to try and finalize a deal for the purchase of the team. If Gagliardi works out an acceptable offer the process still has to go through the bankruptcy court, but if there are no snags the matter could be wrapped up by early next month.
Nieuwendyk has confirmed that the Stars have had contact “in one way or another” with some potential candidates and still needs to have initial talks with others before narrowing down a list of candidate he would like to interview.
Kirk Muller
Muller, considered a hot prospect around the league for a head coaching position, finished his 19-year playing career in Dallas for four seasons (199-2003) when Niewendyk was a teammate.
Gulutzan played seven seasons of professional hockey in the IHL and WCHL before taking the reins as head coach of the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers, leading the team to two division championships, one Brabham Cup and an appearance in the Kelly Cup finals in 2008. In his first season as head coach of the Stars’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Texas Stars, Gulutzan led the team to a 46-27-7 record and a trip to the 2010 Calder Cup finals. Hitchcock is no stranger to the Stars where he served as head coach from 1995-2001. During the 1998-99 NHL season, Hitchcock led the Stars to a regular season record of 51–19–12 (.695), a team best. In the playoffs, Hitchcock led the team to their first and only Stanley Cup, deafeating the Buffalo Sabres. The following season, Hitchcock again led the team to the Stanley Cup finals, only to lose to the New Jersey Devils.
The Stars are one of five NHL teams, including the New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers, currently looking for a new head coach.
Marc Crawford was fired after posting a 79-60-25 record in his two seasons with the Stars. Crawford, who had a year left on his contract, failed to the take the team into the post-season for the second straight year and although there were signs of improvement, Nieuwendyk felt it was time for a change.
Niewendyk is looking to change the attitude and culture around the team and is likely to take his time to find the right man for the job. Some criticized him for moving too quickly in making the move to fire Dave Tippet less than a week after taking over as GM in favor of hiring Crawford. Contact the writer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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