Former Wranglers coach Gulutzan to be named Dallas Stars head coach

Former Wranglers coach Glen Gulutzan will be named the new coach of the Dallas Stars in the next two or three days, according to a source who requested anonymity because the deal is not yet complete.

Gulutzan, 39, will replace Marc Crawford, who was fired after two seasons as Stars coach.

Gulutzan has coached the Texas Stars the past two seasons, guiding the American Hockey League franchise to the Calder Cup Finals in its inaugural 2009-10 season and compiling an 87-56-7-10 record overall (.597).

A call to Gulutzan's cell phone Monday was not answered.

Prior to his ascent to the AHL, Gulutzan was general manager and coach of Las Vegas for its first six ECHL seasons.

He compiled a 254-124-55 mark overall (.650) and guided the Wranglers to an unprecedented three straight 100-point seasons (2005-2008).

Gulutzan, named the ECHL Coach of the Year in 2006, led Las Vegas to the Kelly Cup Finals in 2008 and to the conference finals in 2009.

Tyler Mosienko, the Wranglers' all-time leading scorer with 206 points, played three seasons in Las Vegas for Gulutzan before rejoining the team last year.

"He's a really good coach and a good human being," Mosienko said. "If anybody deserves that job, it's him."

The 5-foot-8-inch, 175-pound Mosienko said he learned a lot from the 5-foot-10, 180-pound "Gully."

"He's a small guy and I'm a small guy, so we related very well," he said. "He taught me a lot of things ... about the mental aspect of the game, little things to do on the ice and ways to think out there."

A native of Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, Gulutzan played nine professional seasons, scoring a career-high 110 points for the now-defunct Fresno Falcons in 1996-97.

He spent six seasons with Fresno, the last four as a player-assistant coach, before he was named coach of the Wranglers prior to their inaugural 2003-04 season.

Gulutzan, who has four children with his wife Nicole, also played in Europe and in the now-defunct International Hockey League with Utah and Las Vegas.

As Wranglers coach, Gulutzan helped develop nine players who have since made their NHL debuts: forward Adam Cracknell; defensemen Tyson Strachan, Adam Pardy, Tyler Sloan and Deryk Engelland; and goalies Mike McKenna, Brent Krahn, John Curry and Dany Sabourin.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0354.