Latest news with #GlenGulutzan
National Post
11-07-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Gulutzan ready to jump from Oilers PP magician to head coach of Dallas Stars
The best power-play coach in hockey is now running the bench of the playoff rival Dallas Stars, but Glen Gulutzan won't soon forget his glorious time with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Co. after his seven years as an Edmonton Oilers ' assistant working with five different head coaches. Article content Article content 'No thank-you,' laughed Gulutzan, whose lethal power play in Edmonton crested at 32.4 per cent one season, an NHL modern-day record, but will let Neil Graham, Stars' AHL affiliate head coach, run it for Gulutzan, who has enough on his plate in his third stab at being an NHL head man after earlier times with Dallas and Calgary. Article content 'Never even crossed my mind. I've known Neil going back to when he was starting out in Idaho in the ECHL and I was in Calgary. We first met for an hour or so over a coffee one day there,' he said. Article content Gulutzan will have Graham, who interviewed for the Dallas head job as well, work with Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and others in Dallas while Gully now watches 97, 29, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard work with whomever Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch brings in to replace him. Article content Gulutzan, who also looked after the Oilers forwards as assistant coach, had the time of his life coaching the Oilers oiwer play, though. Article content Some critics would say, that McDavid and Draisaitl really ran things, of course. Gulutzan doesn't discount their input, for one second. But he would be the guy weaking things when teams figured out the PP, and 97 and 29 were all ears, and respected his smarts totally, because when Gulutzan came to the Oilers in 2018, they were last in the league on the PP. Article content Article content 'I don't disagree. It's not totally wrong,' he said of the people who downplay his influence on the power play. 'We went through an evolution. We changed the structure and we kept working until it involved into a juggernaut and we had the best players in the world in the right spots. You let them play together for two to three years and bang, we set the league record.' Article content When he first came to the Oilers, the power-play machination was different. Article content 'We wanted to make sure the D-man was the facilitator and his job was to get it into Connor, Leon and Nuge's hands, in the right spots,' said Gulutzan who first had Oscar Klefbom on the point with 29, 97 and Nugent-Hopkins and Alex Chiasson and James Neal switching off at net-front. Article content Bouchard is the passer for sure today, but he's also got the Bouch Bomb. Article content 'He's a great facilitator but you've also seen his shot. That was another great weapon to Edmonton's arsenal,' said Gulutzan. 'The greatest source of pride for me was working with those athletes for that amount of time. There's some ideas that all of us brought. That's a treasure for me,' said Gulutzan, who always listened to what 97 and 29 and Nugent-Hopkins had to say, but in the playoffs it became a chess match and Gulutzan was up for the challenge.
National Post
11-07-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Olympic figure skating champion David Pelletier joins Dallas Stars as assistant coach
DALLAS — Former figure skating star David Pelletier is getting his first shot at being an NHL assistant coach. Article content The Dallas Stars announced Friday that Pelletier is joining new head coach Glen Gulutzan's staff. Article content Article content The 50-year-old from Sayabec, Que., had been a skating coach with the Edmonton Oilers for the last 11 years. Article content Pelletier joined the Oilers after a decorated figure skating career that included a gold medal in pairs with partner Jamie Sale at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Article content In what became one of the biggest stories of those Games, Pelletier and Sale finished behind Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. But when a French judge admitted she'd been pressured by her federation to favour the Russians, it ignited a controversy. Pelletier and Sale were later elevated to the top of the podium alongside Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze. Article content Pelletier and Sale also won a world title and three Canadian championships over their career and shared the Lou Marsh Trophy (now Northern Star Award) as top Canadian athlete in 2001. Article content Pelletier joins Alain Nasreddine (assistant coach), Neil Graham (assistant coach), Jeff Reese (goaltending coach), Patrick Dolan (head video coach) and Chris Demczuk (assistant video coach) on Gulutzan's staff. Article content Gulutzan, who spent the past seven seasons as an assistant with Edmonton, was named head coach of the Stars on July 1. He replaced Peter DeBoer, who was fired after the Stars lost to Edmonton in the Western Conference final for the second straight year. Article content
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gulutzan says the Stars were right not keeping him as coach 12 years ago, and now bringing him back
FILE - Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, center, during the first period of an NHL Hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, April 7, 2012, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade, file) DALLAS (AP) — Glen Gulutzan believes the Dallas Stars have twice made the right decision about his coaching career, first not keeping him as their head coach 12 years ago and now bringing him back in that same role. The Stars reintroduced Gulutzan as their coach Wednesday, with he and the franchise both in much different places than back then. One of Jim Nill's first decisions after becoming general manager in 2013 was to make a coaching change after spending a couple of weeks talking with Gulutzan about the players he had for two seasons in his first NHL job. Advertisement 'There was a little bit of a relationship formed. Now our last meeting was, `Hey, I'm not going to renew you, and hand in your keys',' Gulutzan said Wednesday when sitting next to Nill, who is still the Dallas GM. 'At the end of the day, Jim was right. This is a league where you've got to get some wounds on you, some scars. ... You've got to gain experience.' Gulutzan, who turns 54 next month, has that after coaching with three different teams in Canada. He was an assistant the past seven seasons with Edmonton, including the last two making the Stanley Cup Final after beating Dallas for the Western Conference title, after two seasons as Calgary's head coach and a stint as a Vancouver assistant. 'I'm kind of piecing it together a little bit, so 12 years ago Jim actually sent me on a reconnaissance mission, and that was up through Western Canada," Gulutzan said with a smile. 'He didn't tell me until about a week ago that he was bringing me back.' Not only was Gulutzan a first-time NHL head coach when hired by the Stars in 2011, that was when the franchise was going through bankruptcy and an ownership change, and basically run by the league. Advertisement Gulutzan's two seasons wrapped up a franchise-long streak of five consecutive missed playoffs before Lindy Ruff took the Stars back. They had been in the postseason 10 of 11 seasons before that, including their only Stanley Cup title in 1999 and another Western Conference championship this next year under Ken Hitchcock, the only other person to have two stints as Dallas' head coach. The current Stars are coming off three consecutive seasons that ended in the West final, and six playoff appearances in seven years with a Stanley Cup Final appearance in the Canadian bubble during the COVID-impacted 2020 playoffs. When Nill decided in the wake of the latest playoff loss to fire Pete DeBoer after three seasons, the GM said he interviewed numerous coaches at all levels. His process kept coming back to the coach he didn't keep in 2013. 'Speaking with people he worked with, he worked for, all I ever heard about is he'll go through the wall for you. He's organized, he's professional, he cares about people," Nill said. 'His resume and experience over the years have prepared him for this opportunity. ... It's one thing to have success, but you've got to go through tough times. Everybody does. And it's those tough times when you find out who you are, and that's what Glen has done." Advertisement There were also opportunities to work with coaches like John Tortorella, Hitchcock, Dave Tippett and Kris Knoblauch. Gulutzan was 64-57-9 with the Stars from 2011-13, then went to Vancouver before an 82-68-14 record as head coach of the Flames from 2016-18. He then joined the Oilers staff, and was part of 79 playoff games over the past five years. The only player still with the Stars from Gulutzan's first tenure is captain Jamie Benn, who recently signed a contract to return for a 17th season. Nill met with Gulutzan a few days after Edmonton's season ended with a Game 6 loss to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final. Advertisement 'I was so impressed for a guy that was devastated after you lose, how he conducted himself, how we spoke about situations,' Nill said. 'The job resume when you're a head coach in the NHL is X's and O's. It's strategies, it's game plans. We all know that, but ultimately in the end, character matters.' It was still a bit surreal for Gulutzan to be back in the Stars' home arena, where he was a first-time NHL head coach in his early 40s, and only about six weeks after being in the opposing locker room following Edmonton's loss in Game 1 of the West Final. 'I was on the other side cursing the team out when they beat us in Game 1, and now I'm sitting here,' he said. 'But for me, it still feels like home. So it's an easy adjustment.' ___ AP NHL:
Associated Press
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Gulutzan says the Stars were right not keeping him as coach 12 years ago, and now bringing him back
DALLAS (AP) — Glen Gulutzan believes the Dallas Stars have twice made the right decision about his coaching career, first not keeping him as their head coach 12 years ago and now bringing him back in that same role. The Stars reintroduced Gulutzan as their coach Wednesday, with he and the franchise both in much different places than back then. One of Jim Nill's first decisions after becoming general manager in 2013 was to make a coaching change after spending a couple of weeks talking with Gulutzan about the players he had for two seasons in his first NHL job. 'There was a little bit of a relationship formed. Now our last meeting was, `Hey, I'm not going to renew you, and hand in your keys',' Gulutzan said Wednesday when sitting next to Nill, who is still the Dallas GM. 'At the end of the day, Jim was right. This is a league where you've got to get some wounds on you, some scars. ... You've got to gain experience.' Gulutzan, who turns 54 next month, has that after coaching with three different teams in Canada. He was an assistant the past seven seasons with Edmonton, including the last two making the Stanley Cup Final after beating Dallas for the Western Conference title, after two seasons as Calgary's head coach and a stint as a Vancouver assistant. 'I'm kind of piecing it together a little bit, so 12 years ago Jim actually sent me on a reconnaissance mission, and that was up through Western Canada,' Gulutzan said with a smile. 'He didn't tell me until about a week ago that he was bringing me back.' Not only was Gulutzan a first-time NHL head coach when hired by the Stars in 2011, that was when the franchise was going through bankruptcy and an ownership change, and basically run by the league. Gulutzan's two seasons wrapped up a franchise-long streak of five consecutive missed playoffs before Lindy Ruff took the Stars back. They had been in the postseason 10 of 11 seasons before that, including their only Stanley Cup title in 1999 and another Western Conference championship this next year under Ken Hitchcock, the only other person to have two stints as Dallas' head coach. The current Stars are coming off three consecutive seasons that ended in the West final, and six playoff appearances in seven years with a Stanley Cup Final appearance in the Canadian bubble during the COVID-impacted 2020 playoffs. When Nill decided in the wake of the latest playoff loss to fire Pete DeBoer after three seasons, the GM said he interviewed numerous coaches at all levels. His process kept coming back to the coach he didn't keep in 2013. 'Speaking with people he worked with, he worked for, all I ever heard about is he'll go through the wall for you. He's organized, he's professional, he cares about people,' Nill said. 'His resume and experience over the years have prepared him for this opportunity. ... It's one thing to have success, but you've got to go through tough times. Everybody does. And it's those tough times when you find out who you are, and that's what Glen has done.' There were also opportunities to work with coaches like John Tortorella, Hitchcock, Dave Tippett and Kris Knoblauch. Gulutzan was 64-57-9 with the Stars from 2011-13, then went to Vancouver before an 82-68-14 record as head coach of the Flames from 2016-18. He then joined the Oilers staff, and was part of 79 playoff games over the past five years. The only player still with the Stars from Gulutzan's first tenure is captain Jamie Benn, who recently signed a contract to return for a 17th season. Nill met with Gulutzan a few days after Edmonton's season ended with a Game 6 loss to Florida in the Stanley Cup Final. 'I was so impressed for a guy that was devastated after you lose, how he conducted himself, how we spoke about situations,' Nill said. 'The job resume when you're a head coach in the NHL is X's and O's. It's strategies, it's game plans. We all know that, but ultimately in the end, character matters.' It was still a bit surreal for Gulutzan to be back in the Stars' home arena, where he was a first-time NHL head coach in his early 40s, and only about six weeks after being in the opposing locker room following Edmonton's loss in Game 1 of the West Final. 'I was on the other side cursing the team out when they beat us in Game 1, and now I'm sitting here,' he said. 'But for me, it still feels like home. So it's an easy adjustment.' ___ AP NHL:
CTV News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Oilers sign former Flames forward Mangiapane
The Edmonton Oilers have signed Washington Capitals forward Andrew Mangiapane to a two-year contract, the team announced late Tuesday evening. Mangiapane will earn about $3.6 million per year. For the Capitals in the 2024-25 season, he recorded 14 goals and assists each, for 28 points. Mangiapane's hire by the Oilers marks his return to Canada; originally from Toronto, he also spent seven seasons with the Calgary Flames when he was drafted in 2015. He has played 498 National Hockey League games. In other markets, the Dallas Stars hired Oilers assistant Glen Gulutzan as the team's head coach, and the Anaheim Ducks hired former Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft as an assistant coach. With files from The Associated Press
