Glen Gulutzan’s background as a teacher isn’t a secret anymore to Dallas Stars fans, but the national media is finally catching on that part of the new head coach’s story.
This article from NHL.com might be the national hockey audience’s first real introduction to the new head coach who has the Stars off to such a hot start (and who gave them the day off of practice on Wednesday to have a team-bonding day at the go-kart track).
It’s a pretty solid article that focuses on Gulutzan and assistant Paul Jerrard, who came up with him from Austin when both were promoted from the Texas Stars this summer. And it acknowledges that the hockey establishment didn’t really know what to make of the Stars move when he was hired but are quickly coming around on him.
A sample of how he described his philosophy:
“It’s just kind of the way we’ve done things in Austin the last couple of years. I come from a teaching background and I have a teaching background,” Gulutzan said. “So this lesson planning thing isn’t far stretched from practice planning, preparing, yearly plans and stuff like that. We want to be concise with what we do, clear, and make sure the message doesn’t get convoluted when it gets to the players, that they know exactly what we want them to do and there are no gray areas. I think that’s what can help build the team.”
Also making an appearance in this story is the amusing Krys Barch quote where he basically admits that athletes don’t like to think. That’s funny cause it’s true.
After the jump, a few odds and ends after the Stars 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals, the daily media update on the Sidney Crosby post-concussion watch and how to perfectly show off when your opponent is playing the trap.
- More on Eric Nystrom and his good deeds before and during Tuesday’s victory over the Washington Capitals, this time in a paywalled article from Mike Heika. [DallasNews.com]
- We will touch on this in the podcast later today, but here’s a numerical breakdown of why the Steve Ott injury might have been the best thing to happen to the offense, since it put Michael Ryder on a line with Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson. [ESPN Dallas]
- John Erskine, the former Dallas Stars defenseman who creamed Trevor Daley in Tuesday’s game, will not face extra discipline from the league office. Personally, I think it’s a good call. [CSN Washington]
- Those Washington Capitals? Still in trouble with their coach, so much so that they got bag skated on Wednesday. Where’s that Simpsons drop the Stars always play after visitor penalties? I feel like it’s appropriate here. [Washington Examiner]
- More from the behind-the-scenes photo series, including Mike Ribeiro’s hat and post-game celebration ritual with the goalies. [DallasStars.com]
- The TSN mailbag is full of people who are waking up to the wonderful signings that were Sheldon Souray and Vernon Fiddler. [TSN]
- You know who else is pretty impressed with the Stars right now? None other than Hall of Fame mouth and probable future Hall of Fame player Jeremy Roenick. [NHL.com]
- The Toronto Sun loves them some Joe Nieuwendyk. [Toronto Sun]
- This is a pretty nice profile on former Stars coach and current Phoenix Coyotes bench boss Dave Tippett. I was so cranky when they fired him, but given what a success Gulutzan has been this season, I can definitely live with the long-term results of the move now. [Arizona Republic]
- Meet the enemy: So everyone is apparently descending on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the anticipated return of Sidney Crosby. The only problem? There’s still not timetable for his return, and Crosby ain’t talking. [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
- Around the Pacific Division, the games: The Anaheim Ducks are struggle-uggle-uggling right now, a trend that continued Wednesday with a 4-2 home loss to the Nashville Predators. [Yahoo]
- Around the Pacific Division, the bizarre: I know Los Angeles Kings fans are frustrated (or at least they were before beating Nashville on Tuesday). But suggesting Marc Crawford as an improvement as coach? Not so sure I follow. [Jewels From the Crown]
- Fun with videos, part the first: Things got a little bizarre in Wednesday’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning run an uber-conservative forecheck, so much so that they usually don’t send even one player in deep, and the Flyers seemed quite happy to wait them out.
- And for your Stars-related video, there was nothing new on the website from post-practice (or should I say, post-go-karting) Wednesday, so here’s last week’s Stars Insider instead.