Stars hope new coach Desjardins helps talent flow in Cedar Park, Dallas

By Steve Habel

AMERICAN-STATESMAN CORRESPONDENT

CEDAR PARK ? Willie Desjardins has spent 27 years as a coach developing young players and determining game strategy two aspects that will serve him well as the new head coach of the Texas Stars.

Desjardins, 55, was officially introduced Thursday as the Stars' third head coach in as many years. He has spent the past two seasons as an associate head coach for the Dallas Stars ? Texas' NHL parent club ? and former Texas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, who just finished his first season as Dallas' coach.

He replaces Jeff Pyle, who was fired in April, the morning after the Texas Stars finished their 31-40-3-2 season that saw them finish fifth in the American Hockey League's West Division, last in the Western Conference and with the second-worst record in the 30-team AHL.

But the Stars will return a group of young players from this past season, including leading scorer Matt Fraser and top prospects Scott Glennie, Austin Smith, Alex Chiasson and Jack Campbell.

"I look forward to helping them (young players) develop," Desjardins said.

"The continuity and consistency between the things we do at the NHL level in Dallas and the things we will do here at Texas will help those players reach their potential and provide Dallas with a ready set of young players ready to take the next step."

Desjardins' knowledge of Gulutzan's system and his familiarity with prospects will continue to improve player development between the two Stars teams, Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk said.

"Willie is very familiar with our structure, our players and our prospects," Texas Stars general manager Scott White said. "We've seen how he's worked with (Gulutzan) in the past, and Willie's smart enough to see what he has here and what we want from these younger guys. It's really a natural fit for the team and the organization."

Gulutzan said he had learned as much from Desjardins as Desjardins had from him.

"It's great to have a guy of his caliber here with our team," Gulutzan said. "Willie's got the ability to adapt, and it strengthens the organization to have the same ideas (at both levels)."

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