Glen Gulutzan: Dallas Stars “Right Into The Gauntlet” In Home Opener vs. Minnesota Wild
starting goalie. Um, lots any line of changes? Um, yeah, we do. Uh, Pro’s coming in here tonight. Uh, Bush is coming out and for no reason other than what we talked about earlier in the season. Just uh don’t want guys out too long. We’ve seen you’ve seen Pro and had that series a couple of years now. What do you like about him and his path to getting here? Well, I I think uh he’s a well his path here is is a remarkable story. I mean uh I remember uh 7 years ago I I had pro uh and then uh he’s been been out of the league and then back in and coming in the playoffs and played tremendous hockey. Uh so it’s it’s quite a story of resilience for me and then what a mentor he’s been for young players uh on that journey of his own. Right. So uh good for him. Uh, a lot of respect, a lot of respect. I think a lot of our players in our room have a ton of respect from the young guys, uh, the older players, they they know. So, um, great story. What he does bring though, um, he’s got good puck game. You know, he’s got hockey IQ. He’s got good puck game. And I think that compliments, uh, uh, Bish well too. Uh, Bish had a fight last game of the preseason, and you mentioned that maybe the team didn’t draw as much energy out of it as you were hoping they would. Did you notice a better response after Ritz Scopian’s fight the other day? Yeah. Yeah. No, we were, you know, we’re scrapping for anything we could get. You’re in a in a barn like that that that uh you know, it’s hard to play in and you know, you’re looking for any pieces of energy that you can grab. And it did give us a little energy, a little fight back. And uh yeah, you you know what it’s about. We’re trying to scrap out points every night, no matter how you can get them. Coach, what you see in all these divisional games, obviously getting back in three to start the season, it just puts you right into, you know, the the way the playoffs are now, you have to do well in the division. Yeah. Right into the gauntlet, you know, right into the gauntlet. And but you know what? If you want to be the best, you got to beat the best. And uh you can’t shy away from it. And we we aren’t. Uh we’re going to, you know, you’re going to go right through it. Um but yeah, you you got to that’s how you get better is playing the the the top teams. So, um, and that’s how you hone your own game. Minnesota has seven power play goals since it last two games. Just do you have to issue a reminder about discipline play against a team like that? Oh, we will. Yeah, we saw the three last night. So, um, you know, when they’re on a roll, right? And it’s like anything else, you get you get hot, you get hot. So, um, we’ve got a good penalty kill, but they’ve got some special players. And, um, you know, we we we did watch. We we knew they got seven. So I’m not quite sure on the exact number he’s at seven for 10. Maybe they are some. They’re they’re running hot. So um we’ll have to be prepared for that. Good news is you’ve only taken two penalties. The bad news is you haven’t practiced the PK much, huh? Yeah. Well, we got some practice in Colorado. Um so and and it held us in and uh but it’s going to have to be sharp tonight. Coach, if somebody told you this time a year ago you’d be the head coach of the Dallas Stars and going in their regular season opener here in October, whatever it is, what would you believe? Not a chance. No. No. Honestly, not a chance. No. Why is that? Well, you know, if you take a look at you asked me to go back a year, a year you’re pretty entrenched with uh what you’re doing on on the other side of it, right? So, um obviously I’d been here before and yeah, would never cross my mind. I knew I had a daughter coming here, but that was about the only connection I had to to coming back here. But now, this has been fantastic. It’s been uh it’s been uh Hey, it’s been honestly a little bit of a dream come true. It’s been great. It uh never thought about it, but now that I’m here, I’m certainly uh grateful that I’m here. What’s the best part of a home open room for you? Fans. Yeah, I Yeah, Bruce. The fans. like the excitement in the building and the the buildup and the talk and you can see the players and the focus and I guess when I say the fans, you know, it’s it’s exciting, but they bring it’s the energy and and everyone knows what energy is coming. So, there’s some energy in here this morning. There’s some some lightness, there’s some liveless. You could see it on the ice today. Um, you know, it’s good energy. Now, from a coach’s point part, you want to harness that energy, too, right? You want to channel it. Make sure it’s going in the right
Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan talks after morning skate ahead of the 2025 home opener vs the Minnesota Wild.
He breaks down lineup decisions, praises Petrovic’s resilience, stresses discipline against a red-hot Minnesota power play, and reflects on what it means to lead the Stars. Gulutzan also touches on the energy in the AAC and how the team plans to harness it for a strong start at home.
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1 comment
I like his approach and communication skills. He's pretty open too. It's a work in progress but I like the more forechecking, more physicality, more possession time. Alot of the weaknesses are being not only recognized but addressed with a sense of priority. I think this is going to turn out well.