Dallas Stars: Top Five Candidates To Fill Head Coach Vacancy
By Tom Dorsa
On Friday morning, Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock announced he will be retiring from his post as the Stars’ bench boss. Now, Dallas must search for a replacement.
Ken Hitchcock is a future Hall of Famer. The third-winningest coach in the history of the National Hockey League leaves a legacy of a Stanley Cup title, two conference championships, three Olympic gold medals, eight division titles, and 823 career wins behind as the 66-year-old announced his retirement on Friday.
After drastically improving a flawed defensive system, Hitchcock’s impact on the Dallas Stars was obvious. But, at the end of his tenure, the many negatives of his time in Dallas began to outweigh the positives, as the Stars monumentally collapse and failed to reach the postseason for the eighth time in 10 seasons.
Hitchcock’s second stint with the Stars did not produce the desired results, but Hitch accomplished what he wanted to: rather than being shoved out of the league, he retired on his own terms.
Coach Hitchcock will remain with the Stars organization in an advisory role, but the void he leaves as the bench boss is large.
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As of Friday, the search is on for the next Dallas Stars head coach. Ideally, Dallas does not follow the same path as the hiring of Hitch a year ago, opting to select the first coach on the market.
Rather than a veteran coach with multiple stops at the NHL level, the Stars need a fresh, progressive face who rewards offensive creativity over defensive discipline.
No Alain Vigneault, no Michel Therrien, no Bob Hartley, no Jack Capuano, no Dan Bylsma, no Willie Desjardins, no Dave Tippett, no Darryl Sutter.
Instead, a forward-thinker whose system is modeled around the new NHL – as opposed to the 1990s – who can reestablish the Stars as that fun, energetic, fast team every national writer tunes in to.
With that, here are the five best candidates for the head coaching job with the Dallas Stars.