Big news out of the Dallas Stars organization today as the Stars have announced today that head coach Glen Gulutzan will not be brought back for head coaching duties after two seasons. Many were waiting for the news since the hire of Jim Nill as new General Manager of the Stars. Nill stated in a press conference that he would take some time to evaluate the coaching staff and then make a decision. The team has also let go of Paul Jerrard, who was Gulutzan’s right hand man since Gulutzan’s head coaching days with the Texas Stars. The Stars announced that they were keeping assistant coach Curt Fraser and goalie coach Mike Valley for the future.

Gulutzan’s, 41,  coaching career began in 2003 when he was the head coach and General Manager of the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL. In six seasons with the club Gulutzan coached the Wranglers to two division titles and won the ECHL coach of the year award in 2008. In 2009 with the creation of the Texas Stars, Glen Gulutzan was hired as head coach of the team and in the team’s inaugural season coached the young Stars team to the Calder Cup finals where they were defeated by the Hershey Bears in six games. Gulutzan then coached the Stars to another playoff appearance the following season, but were eliminated in the first round in six games by the Milwaukee Admirals. After the 2010-2011 season, Gulutzan then became the top candidate for the Dallas Stars head coaching job after the Stars fired Marc Crawford. In his two season as the Stars head coach Gulutzan was 64-57-9 and finished 10th and 11th in the western conference.

Jerrard, 48, short NHL career was with the Minnesota North Stars in 1988 when Jerrard played five games for the North Stars. The rest of Jerrard’s hockey career was spent in the minor leagues. Jerrard’s coaching career began in 1998 with the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. Jerrard’s first taste of NHL coaching came with the Colorado Avalanche where he was an assistant coach for one season. Jerrard eventually ended up with the Iowa Stars, who were the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars and stayed with them until the team was disbanded in 2008. When the Texas Stars were brought into existence in 2009, Jerrard was hired as an assistant coach to Glen Gulutzan and when Gulutzan was promoted to the NHL as head coach of the Dallas Stars, Jerrard was brought aboard as an assistant coach.

The names of possible replacement coaches are already starting to fly around the rumor mill in Dallas as the names of Dave Tippett, Alain Vigneault, and Lindy Ruff are circulating around. Stars fans shouldn’t expect a quick hire, but instead a search for a number of weeks to find the best candidate. The culture change is in full swing in Dallas; new GM, new coach, new jerseys and new logo, next new players?

The Finals were underway today in Allen, as the Americans continue to have trouble with winning in game one. They lost the first game against both the Denver Cutthroats and the Missouri Mavericks and later went on to win best out of seven 4-1 and 4-3. But with Wichita sweeping their first two opponents many will wonder how this affects the midset of  Allen players? Will they brush it off and come back with a win in game two on Thursday? Will they then go to Wichita and bring home points? Or will Wichita continue their ruthless streak and sweep the final series also? Of course we hope/ assume the latter would never happen, especially when looking back on the regular season series when Allen won 5 out of the 8 meetings. But time and the way both teams play will tell. Allen definately came out and played well for the first period, but towards the end seemed to lose focus and mainly focus on playing a strong physical game. Which of course is needed but with a team like Wichita, you give them any leeway and their going to take it. While their first goal may not have been pretty, upon review it was shown that Todd Griffith was pushed by an Allen player causing the puck Dell thought he had covered to slip past and into the net. Wichita would take their 1-0 lead into the locker room. With both teams back for the second it would only take a short time for the Thunder to up their lead to 2-0 with Todd Griffith picking up his second of the night at 2:49, from Travis Wight and Les Reaney. But despite Allen having two power play chances the score would remain 2-0 after two. The teams came back for the third and Allen seemed to have a little more fight to them. They spent too much of the second turning over pucks and focusing more on playing physically than playing smart. They would tie the game on a power play at 4:18 in the period on a shot from Trevor Ludwig, with the assists going to Todd Robinson and Brian McMillin. But very quickly give RG Flath a breakaway chance less than 30 seconds later at 4:41 to be trailing 3-1 early in the third. The Thunder would finish out the scoring later in the period at 12:52 with an unassisted goal by Chad Painchaud. The Americans would pull goaltender Aaron Dell with 2:37 left in the game but Torrie Jung would stand strong and shut down the Americans. Game two on Thursday should be interesting to see the attitudes of both teams coming into the first period after the scrum that broke out at the end of game one. But in order to guarantee that the teams will be back in Allen for game 5, a win on Thursday would give the Americans a boost of confidence before going on the road for games 3&4 in Wichita.

The final round of the CHL playoffs begins today as the Allen Americans and Wichita Thunder compete for the Ray Miron Presidents Cup. The Allen Americans defeated the Denver Cutthroats in round one winning 4 out of 5 games played. They would them play the Missouri Mavericks winning best out of seven 4-3.

The Wichita Thunder however would sweep both the Arizona Sundogs and the Fort Worth Brahmas 4-0 in the first two rounds. The Americans look stay alive against the Thunder and bring home their first Ray Miron Trophy.

Allen has done well against Wichita in the regular season winning 5 out of 8 games. Four of the five at home and one in Wichita. Wichita would when all three of their games at home.

Puck drop is set for 7:05.

Photo: sports.ca.msn.com

Sunday was a big day for the Dallas Stars as even though their season was over, the work was just beginning. The organization announced Sunday that General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk had been relieved of his duties, and later on that evening Stars’ owner Tom Gaglardi went on to confirm that Detroit Red Wings’ assistant General Manager Jim Nill would be the new General Manager of the Stars and that it would be made official Monday.

Jim Nill had spent the past nineteen seasons as a member of the Red Wings’ front office and the past fifteen seasons as assistant General Manager to current Red Wings’ GM Ken Holland, helping form the dynasty that is the Detroit Red Wings. Jim Nill has been coveted by many teams to be their General Manager, but Dallas was the first NHL General Manager job that he accepted.

Nill’s duties as Assistant General Manager of the Red Wings included directing the amateur scouting and representing Detroit as overseer of all draft picks at the NHL entry drafts. Nill is famous for finding late round gems in drafts such as Henrik Zetterberg (210th overall in the 1999 draft) and Pavel Datsyuk (171st overall in the 1998 draft).

A short press conference was held at the American Airlines Center today to announce the hiring of Jim Nill and when asked about the hiring here is what Nill had to say:

“I am honored and very excited at this opportunity to be the Dallas Stars General Manager and I want to thank Tom Gaglardi and Jim Lites for believing that I am the right person for this job. There have been a few other openings out there that have been presented to me in the past, but I was waiting for the right one to take, and coming to Dallas was that right one. I am eager to get started building on the pieces that already exist and helping return this team to the playoffs.”

The first decision for Jim Nill will be what to do with current Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan who just ended the last year of his team contract. The Dallas Stars’ have the decision to pick up the option for a third year or not.

Photo- cbssports.com

The Dallas Stars regular season ended Saturday evening when they faced off against the Detroit Red Wings in what would be a do or die game for the Red Wings. Before the first puck drop of the game the internet was busy as a tweet sent by Darren Dreger stated that the Stars already had a new General Manager ready to take over duties as soon as Monday.

The Stars went on to lose their season ender against Detroit 3-0 leaving a stinging mark on the end of the season. Then Sunday it was made official by Stars owner and Governor Tom Gaglardi that Joe Nieuwendyk had not been fired, but he had been relieved of his General Manager duties and that in fact Jim Nill was going to be officially announced as the new General Manager of the Dallas Stars.

Joe Nieuwendyk took over as General Manager of the Stars after the 2008-2009 season replacing the two headed General Manager of Les Jackson and Brett Hull. The state of the Stars at the time was really dark as this was the first season that Dallas had missed the postseason since the 2001-2002 season, and the first time under head coach Dave Tippett. Dallas was also in its beginning stages of then team owner Tom Hicks starting to lose grip on his ownership to the banks and lenders, sending Dallas into a downward spiral into bankruptcy.

In his four years as General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk had to make some tough decisions eventually changing the face of this organization, including firing Dave Tippett, deciding not to re-sign Mike Modano and Marty Turco, and deciding not to trade Brad Richards to make a playoff run, but failing and losing Richards completely in free agency. The team failed to make the playoffs in Nieuwendyk’s tenure as General Manager.

Even though their were dark times in Nieuwendyk’s tenure, there were many positives, such as the emphasis on drafting and developing prospects. Before Nieuwendyk’s arrival as General Manager, the top prospects in the Dallas Stars system were Aaron Gagnon and Ivan Vishnevskiy…. Yeah exactly I don’t know who they are either. Today the Stars now have prospects like Brett Ritchie, Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser, Radek Faksa, and Jack Campbell developing in the minors and soon will contribute to the NHL level. Nieuwendyk also stole Kari Lehtonen from the Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashersat the 2010 trade deadline. So to describe Nieuwendyk’s time as General Manager you will get mixed reviews. As he may have not had a lot of success for the present day Dallas Stars, but Nieuwendyk has the future of the Stars looking bright. Stars’ owner Tom Gaglardi has stated that he would like Joe Nieuwendyk to stay in the organization and has offered him a position within the organization to finish out his contract which still has one year remaining on it.

Entering last night’s game with Columbus, the Stars still had a shot at the playoffs, but it was a long shot. Before the Stars even took the ice versus the Blue Jackets, a game that had super importance to the Stars was underway at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit as the Red Wings were matched up against the Nashville Predators. The Stars needed the Predators to defeat the Red Wings in regulation to keep Dallas’ playoff hopes alive.

SCENARIOS

If Nashville were able to defeat Detroit in regulation, and if the Stars were to defeat Columbus in regulation or overtime/shootout then it would have set up an extremely exciting Saturday in the NHL as there would be two games going determining 8th place in the western conference:

Dallas vs Detroit

Had the Stars won last night this game would be for eighth place in the West.

Nashville vs Columbus

The Stars would have needed the Predators to defeat the Blue Jackets in regulation for the Stars to have the scenario of facing Detroit for eighth place in the West.

OUTCOMES

Long before Dallas defeat against the Blue Jackets last night Detroit ran over Nashville 5-2 completely killing the Stars playoff hopes before the Stars lost to the Blue Jackets.

What’s Next

The Stars still have one game left on the season which is Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit needs a victory over the Stars or a lot of help from the Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers, and Colorado Avalanche to keep their playoff streak alive.

For the Stars this marks the fifth straight season in which they have missed the playoffs. The Stars stood resilient through the trade deadline until now when it was believed that they were raising the white flag on the season when they traded Jaromir Jagr and Derek Roy. Depending on how Friday and Saturday play out for the Stars, their draft position could be anywhere from 9-12, and with all non-playoff teams eligible for the lottery pick the Stars have a small percent chance of becoming the team with the first overall pick. Full season review will be over the weekend when the regular season is over.

The Dallas Stars came into this game against the Columbus Blue Jackets looking to gain the two points and have hope for their post season. But with Detroit topping the Nashville Predators with a 5-2 win, the game against the Blue Jackets would no longer matter. The Stars will now close out the regular season against the Detroit Red Wings and look to use their off-season to not only get stronger but find a few new pieces to the puzzle that they hope will make a contending play-off team in the 2013-2014 season.

First Period:

It would only take 19 seconds for Columbus to get on the board with a shot from Cam Atkinson, assisted by Blake Comeau and Brandon Dubinsky. Soon after at 6:54 Eric Nystrom would drop the gloves with defencemen Dalton Sprout with Nystrom clearly landing the better of punches. Both would sit for the next five as their respective teams battled to stay alive. At the end of the first the Stars would be outshot 12-10.

Second Period:

With the Stars future still up in the air the team would come back to play their hardest like every night. They would tie the game on a power play goal from Jamie Benn, with the assists going to Eric Cole and Ray Whitney at 8:43 in the period. This time the period would end with the stars out shooting the Blue Jackets 15-10 for a two period total of 25-22.

Third Period:

It would be during the second intermission that Stars coaching staff would learn of Detroits win. But the team come back for the third ready to do what it takes and keep on fighting, but Columbus would take the lead with two power play goals. The first at 7:56 in the period with Stephane Robidas in the box for inference, from Mark Letestu and Brandon Dubinsky. And again late in the period with Eric Nystrom in the box for interference, the Blue Jackets would take a 3-1 lead at 18:20 with Cam Atkinson scoring his second of the night from Jack Johnson and Dalton Prout.

Notes:

- Head coach Glen Gulutzan said in the press conference that coaching staff knew of Detroits win after the second.

- He also said that players were not told, and locker room TVs were all off, but seems to think a majority of them had found out from other media outlets.

- Aaron Rome was out of the line up as he has  been battling a hip issue that will require surgery to repair.

Photo Credit – Kansas City Star

Independence, Missouri – The Allen Americans watch their first conference clenching attempt fall through their fingers in overtime to the Missouri Mavericks .

Allen got off to a good start as Trevor Hendrikx jumped out of the penalty box and popped one in on assists from Todd Robinson and Mike Berube at 13:22 of the first period.  Play bounced from end to end for the rest of the first and as the teams headed to the locker rooms, Allen was leading 1-0.

Missouri got a fortunate power play goal from Colt King while Jim McKenzie sat in the box for slashing, tying it up 1-1.  About two minutes later, Allen’s leading playoff scorer Brian McMillin ripped one over the blocker of Clemente after snatching the puck away from Kellan Tochkin.  McMillin’s goal was unassisted.  Headed to the rooms again, Allen was up 2-1.

It was very obvious in the third that Missouri did not want their season to end. Their play had a renewed aggression and with Clemente on the bench, picked up the game tying goal with 30 seconds left in regulation play.

In a way, it was fitting as it didn’t take long for Andrew Courtney to net the overtime game winner only 34 seconds into OT as he was the one who tied the game to push it to OT.

Allen will try to bounce back at home on Monday 4/22 with the puck dropping at 7:05pm.

Game 7, if necessary will be in Allen on 4/23 also at 7:05pm

The Allen Americans have a tough few days ahead of them as they look to hopefully close out this series by winning all three games on the road. And throughout tonights nail biter over time the Americans were victorious with the win.

With a scoreless first period, both teams would head to their locker rooms to re-vamp and come back for the second with a new kick in their step. Allen would light the lamp first with a goal from Jason Deitsch, his first of the playoffs and an assist from Anthony Maiani at 9:39. The score would stick and would end the second period 1-0 Allen, but with Missouri out-shooting 15-10.

The Mavericks would tie the game at 5:25 in the third with a power play goal from Eric Melland, assisted by Kellan Tochkin and Sebastien Thinel. Shortly after at 9:27 John-Scott Dickson would give Missouri the lead, with assists from Colt King and Dave Pszenyczny.

With the clock winding down Allen would continue to fight for the win with Trevor Ludwig giving them the chance in over time with a late goal in the third, from Brian McMillin and Tyler Ludwig.

Both teams would have several great chances to end OT on the power play with boarding seeming to be the most popular call. Allen would be on the receiving end of two 5-on-3 that Trevor Hendrikx would make count on a pass from Todd Robinson at 18:01 in OT.

Three stars of the game:

STAR 1: Hendrikx, Trevor (ALN)
STAR 2: Ludwig, Trevor (ALN)
STAR 3: Dickson, John-Scott (MIZ)

Since the Trade Deadline on April 3rd no team has been hotter or had hotter players than the Dallas Stars. Dallas has won five straight games since the trade deadline and fought back right into the playoff races of the western conference since being in 13th on trade deadline day April 3rd. The Stars latest charge has been led by a new group of leadership. Alex Chiasson has come up from the minors and been a force on the Stars scoring six goals in six games and riding a five game point streak entering Monday’s game, Vernon Fiddler led the lead in points since April 3rd with ten (2g, 8a), and Richard Bachman has stepped up since his early season struggles to win every game he has started since Kari Lehtonen’s latest absence due to injury. Dallas is fighting to keep it’s playoff hopes alive and Monday had to face the best team in the NHL which would be a big test for this new look Stars team. The Stars were needing a win to move back into the top eight with Detroit reclaiming the eight seed over the weekend, Dallas stayed resilient through out the game, but Chicago is the best in the NHL for a reason and they showed it tonight.

First Period

Keys to Dallas’ latest win streak has been their ability to get off to fast starts, and in this game that didn’t happen as Chicago got the first step on Dallas. Dallas was unable to help it’s own cause with penalty trouble as the Stars took two first period minors. The Blackhawks kept the puck in the Dallas zone for most of the period and Richard Bachman was peppered with 13 first period shots. Chicago goaltender Ray Emery barely got tested in the first only facing four shots on net. A big blow to Dallas offense also came in the opening period as Alex Chiasson left the game with a shoulder injury. The Blackhawks struck first at the 12:54 mark of the first period as Jonathan Toews tipped in a Marian Hossa shot for his 21st goal of the season. The Blackhawks dominated the first period, but the goal deficit was only one as Chicago ended the first ahead 1-0

Second Period

Dallas continued to hang on, but turnovers were costly for the Stars tonight. Chicago pushed their lead to 2-0 when Viktor Stalberg scored his ninth goal of the season at the 12:14 mark of the period. Dallas was able to cut the lead in half quick at the 14:12 mark Jamie Benn finally broke through Ray Emery with a wrist shot for his ninth goal of the season. Dallas kept the shots a bit more even this period only being outshot 9-7, and the deficit still at one goal as Chicago led 2-1 after two periods.

Third Period

It didn’t take long for Dallas to tie this game as Jamie Benn put the team on his shoulders tonight. Benn scored his second of the game and tenth of the season at the 3:07 mark of the period. After the game was tied Chicago took their game to another level and struck the Stars quick, Andrew Shaw scored his ninth goal of the season just 84 seconds after Benn had tied the game, and Niklas Hjalmarsson restored Chicago’s two goal lead a few minutes later. Marian Hossa added an empty netter at the end of the period to give Chicago their 5-2 victory in their season sweep of the Dallas Stars.

Game Extras

• Dallas went 0-2-1 this season against Chicago, and they get more of them next season as these two will be division rivals.
• Richard Bachman was definitely not the blame this game as he played expectionally well, but Chicago just outplayed Dallas.
• All three streaks for the Stars came to an end this game: Chiasson and Fiddler’s point streaks and Richard Bachman’s winning decision streak.
• The amazing season of Ray Emery continues as he is now 16-1-0 with a Goals Against Average of 1.91 and a save percentage of .923%
• Jamie Benn stepped up tonight, and the Stars are gonna need more of that from him and the other top players in the remaining six games.
• Playoff Update: Dallas’ loss tonight knocks them down to tenth place as Columbus took over ninth place. A good win streak for the Stars could push them as high as sixth.
• Three Stars of the Game chosen by the Chicago Media: 1. Andrew Shaw 2. Marian Hossa 3. Jamie Benn
• Dallas has two games off before they take on the Vancouver Canucks Thursday in Dallas, puck drops at 7:30