Dallas Fires Head Coach Dave Tippett
June 11, 2009 by Jeanne Dupuis
Filed under Dallas Stars, NHL, NHL coaches, News
The regular season is over, the playoffs are almost wrapped up and the NHL Awards and NHL Entry Draft are right around the corner. This part of the year is almost always marked by teams making huge changes and the Dallas Stars have jumped right in. 
NHL.com is reporting that, after six seasons behind Dallas’ bench, head coach, Dave Tippett has been relieved of his duties despite the fact that he has an impressive 271-156-28-37 record. It had to be expected, however, that major changes would be on their way when Joe Nieuwendyk took over as the team’s general manager.
I know that things went off the rails for the Stars last season so I’m not overly surprised but a lot of it was not the fault of Dave Tippett. They were plagued by the Sean Avery controversy and a host of injuries, leaving them with captain, Brendan Morrow, and Sergei Zubov for most of the season. It’s hard to get things done when two of your most important players are out of the lineup. Then, just when it seemed that things couldn’t get any worse, Brad Richards, got sidelined with hand and wrist injuries that prevented him from helping the team make a push for the playoffs. It was just an overall bad year. It was the first time in Tippett’s six years with the team that they didn’t make it to the postseason.
Of course, the rumors about a replacement have started. The Los Angeles Kings have reportedly given the Stars permission to talk to coach, Marc Crawford. He’s still under contract with LA and I wish he would just stay there. I’m not sure how he would fit in with Dallas’ roster.
**UPDATE** NHL.com is now reporting that the Stars have, in fact, hired Marc Crawford.
image: TSN
