Dave Tippett Fired From Dallas

It was no big surprise when on Wednesday afternoon the Dallas Stars made the announcement that many were expecting when they officially fired their long time head coach Dave Tippett. Even though this Saskatchewan native put together a solid resume, which includes a 271-156-28-37 record during his six year run in Dallas, he still took the blame for his team underachieving and missing this year’s playoffs. At the beginning of the season many forecasted the Stars to perhaps challenge for the Stanley Cup. Right off the bat Dallas was haunted by injuries to key go to players such as Brendan Morrow (ACL injury) and number one defenceman Sergei Zubov who only dressed for 10 games due to hip injuries. In the final two months of the season with a playoff spot still a remote possibility the Stars were once again hit hard by the injury bug as scoring forward and former Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards was sidelined with a badly fractured wrist. Due mainly to the various injuries and the multi distractions coming from disruptive forward Sean Avery, the Stars finished 12^th in the Western Conference and eight points out of a playoff position. Tippett who enjoyed an 11- year playing career in the NHL enjoyed his greatest success behind the bench when in 1999 he led the IHL’s Houston Aeros to a Turner Cup victory. This past spring Tippett also proved to be an exceptional coach when as an assistant he played a big role in helping Canada win silver during the IIHF World Hockey Championship. Rumors have already started to circulate that Marc Crawford who worked this past year, as an analysis with Hockey Night In Canada is a strong candidate to be the next coach.