Dallas Stars and Texas Stars coaching news

Mike Hieka has some Dallas Stars coaching updates over at his DMN Stars blog. When Marc Crawford was hired, and assistant Mark Lamb was fired along with head coach Dave Tippett, the status of Stu Barnes and Andy Moog became uncertain. Usually a new coach prefers to bring in a completely new staff of his own choosing, and some thought that Crawford would prefer to work with assistants he's familiar with.

Crawford confirmed today to Heika what he said yesterday on The Fan 590 in Toronto; that Stu Barnes and Andy Moog would remain with the team as assistant coaches.

Heika says that there is still some working out to do between the coaches, but he believes that Barnes will move from the press box down to the bench. He also believes that the Stars will go from being a four-man coaching staff to a three-man staff.

There is still the matter of hiring a coach to run the defense, but Crawford said that it will not be Mike Johnston, his defensive coach in Vancouver and Los Angeles.

He also has the news that the Texas Stars will announce today that they have selected Glen Gulutzan as their head coach.

He's 37 and has had a great career coaching the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL.

The Stars were able to watch him first-hand in coaching against Idaho in the Kelly Cup Finals in 2008.

His assistant will be Paul Jerrard, who was the assistant in Iowa and has been in the Stars system as a coach since 2005. He also was a long-time player in the Stars' minor league system in Kalamazoo.

Personally I think Gulutzan is a great choice for the first coach of the Texas Stars, and he will be perfect for helping the new franchise be successful while also developing the Stars prospects. He fits in well with the new direction the Stars are hoping to go as well as an organization.