NEWS » mitted the offence and accepted the san

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."Cheap Panthers Jerseys China .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. http://www.cheapfloridapanthersjerseys.com/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Cheap Panthers Jerseys . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. Wholesale Panthers Jerseys . With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position.Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi has been reprimanded for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth ODI against Ireland on Sunday.Nabi violated Level 1 Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel which relates to conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game.The incident occurred in the sixth over of Irelands chase of 230. Opener Ed Joyce had hit the ball to the extra-cover boundary and Nabi had claimed that he kept the ball in play. Joyce did not complete the third run, assuming it was a boundary, and was adjudged run-out once the ball was thrown back in. However, an ICC release said: photographic evidence later confirmed that Nabi was in contact with the ball whilst outside the boundary when he had flicked the ball for Rashid Khan to help run-out Joyce.Joyce, who led Ireland to a six-wicket win with an unbeaten 105 in the third ODI, was dismissed for 12 and Irelandd lost by 79 runs.ddddddddddddNabi admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee David Jukes, and there was no need for a formal hearing. The charge had been laid by Alan Neill and C Shamshuddin, the on-field umpires, as well as reserve umpire Royl Black.After speaking to my colleague, I spoke to the fielder and asked him had he prevented the four, Neill later told the Belfast Telegraph. He said yes. I then asked were you in control of the ball when you were outside the rope? He said no sir. I went over to my colleague and said we have a problem here.He said ask him again, so I repeated the same two questions and got the same two answers. He was adamant he had not touched the ball while he was outside the rope. So we had to take his word and had to give Ed Joyce out. ' ' '