FRISCO, Texas -- Glen Gulutzan couldnt end the longest playoff drought in franchise history for the Dallas Stars and the second-year coach didnt hold the option on the remaining season in his contract. When the general manager who hired him was dumped two weeks ago, Gulutzans firing looked like the inevitable next step in an overhaul of the staff and it came Tuesday in an announcement from new general manager Jim Nill. He nevertheless said the move wasnt a foregone conclusion in his mind. "Thats why this process took so long," Nill said. "I needed to do my homework. I needed to get to know everybody. Its tough when you come into a new situation. I wanted to be fair to everyone." The Stars missed the playoffs in both of Gulutzans seasons, making it five straight years without a post-season trip for a franchise that crammed 73 playoff games into a four-year stretch a little more than a decade ago. Joe Nieuwendyk was a prominent member of those Stars teams, winning the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP when Dallas won the Stanley Cup in 1999. He didnt come close to replicating that success as general manager, finally getting replaced by Nill after four years of missing the playoffs. Gulutzan was the second of two failed coaching hires for Nieuwendyk, who fired Dave Tippett when he arrived and hired Marc Crawford, a Stanley Cup winner with Colorado in 1995. Crawford brought a tougher style than the player-friendly Tippett, but he missed the playoffs in both his seasons while Tippett took Phoenix to the post-season the first three years after the Stars let him go. The hiring of Gulutzan when he was 39 was seen as a move back to the players side. He was plucked from the Stars top affiliate, the Texas Stars of the AHL, after eight seasons as a head coach in the minor leagues. Dallas was in contention late in both his seasons, but faltered down the stretch. He was 64-57-9, including 22-22-4 in the lockout-shortened 2013 season. The Stars controlled their playoff fate with five games remaining each year under Gulutzan, but went 0-9-1 in those 10 games. Assistant coach Paul Jerrard also was fired, while assistant coach Curt Fraser and goaltending coach Mike Valley will stay with the club. The new head coach will inherit a playoff drought thats now two seasons longer than the previous record of three straight from 1973-76, when the franchise was in Minnesota. "Things have to change here," Nill said. "It hasnt been right. Were in the business to win here. Were going to put something in place to start that process." Nill said he met with Gulutzan about five times before delivering his decision Tuesday. "We had some good discussions," Nill said. "Its part of the business. Sometimes you have to go through peaks and valleys. In the end, this is going to make him a better coach." Nieuwendyk tried to get Dallas back to the playoffs this year by adding veterans Jaromir Jagr, Derek Roy and Ray Whitney, but ended up trading Jagr, Roy and longtime captain Brenden Morrow with the team languishing at the trading deadline. The Stars made an improbable surge to stay alive with a much younger roster, and many of those players -- led by forward Jamie Benn -- are likely to be part of the rebuilding under Nill, who spent 15 years as an assistant GM with Detroit. The Red Wings have the longest playoff streak in North American pro sports at 22 years. "The nice thing is the slate is clean," Nill said. "We dont have a lot of contracts that tie our hands. We know the positions weve got to get better in. Were fortunate in that we have a good young foundation. Were just going to continue to make that foundation stronger." Nill said he isnt in a hurry to hire a coach and wont necessarily swing back to a coach with NHL experience after Gulutzan couldnt translate his AHL success to the higher level. "Its going to be wide open," Nill said. "There have been some great young coaches that have come in and done some great things with teams. I need to be wide open to that aspect."
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Wholesale Air Max For Sale . PAUL, Minn. The father of Jules Bianchi says he has nothing to lose as he takes legal action against the FIA, F1 and Marussia over his sons fatal crash in 2014.Bianchi died on July 17 last year from injuries sustained in a head-on collision with a recovery vehicle during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. The FIAs investigation into the accident found Bianchi did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control under the double yellow flags which were being waved at the time of his accident.At this years Monaco Grand Prix it was confirmed the Bianchi family have?launched legal action against the sport and his sons former team. The statement released by the firm representing Bianchi said the family feel the action of one or more of those parties, amongst others, may have contrivuted to Jules fatal accident.Phillippe Bianchi says preserving the memory of his son is the motivation behind the litigation.I have lost the single-most important thing in my life and have nothing to lose, he told CNN about the legal action. I want the memory of Jules to be right. Its not possible for me and his mother to see people that say it was Jules responsibility.Bianchis death has had an impactt on safety in F1, altering start times of F1 races and also leading to the introduction of the Virtual Safety Car, which forces drivers to drive within a delta time while a minor incident is being resolved on track.dddddddddddd Philippe Bianchi says that safety push must continue in the coming years.My motivation is just to make justice for Jules. I know that Jules is here and when he listens to people saying its his responsibility, its not possible. Formula One has to be more spectacular, sure.But more dangerous? Its stupid. You have to change and have more security, because my son is dead now.Another big safety innovation this year has been the push for cockpit protection, with a decision on whether to implement the Halo device in 2017 expected before the end of July. Though the testing of this and the Red Bull Aeroscreen have often been mentioned alongside Bianchis accident and death, the same FIA investigation found such devices would not have changed the outcome due to the very large forces involved in the Suzuka crash. ' ' '
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