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Glen Gulutzan happy to return 'home' with Canucks


shinkaruk98

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Don't know to much about this guy, but hopefully he works out here.

VANCOUVER — Glen Gulutzan will be the voice of Western Canada on the new Vancouver Canucks' coaching staff.

Gulutzan was born in The Pas, Man., but raised in Hudson Bay, Sask. He played junior for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Brandon Wheat Kings, Saskatoon Blades and then university hockey for the Saskatchewan Huskies.

He joins a staff that includes a head coach from Boston (John Tortorella), an assistant coach from Marshfield, Mass. (Mike Sullivan), a goalie coach from Moncton (Rollie Melanson) and a video coach from Newfoundland (Darryl Williams).

Gulutzan is a father of four – three girls and one boy between the ages of 6-12 – and they all play hockey. Moving to Canada from Dallas, where Gulutzan was the Stars head coach the last two seasons, has the whole family fired up.

“I've been down in the United States for a very long time and my wife, who is Canadian, and my four kids are really excited about coming back to Canada,” Gulutzan said Wednesday. “It's going to be something neat for our family.”

Gulutzan will be a true newcomer to the five-man group that will be guiding the Canucks in 2013-14. Tortorella and Sullivan were together with the New York Rangers for four seasons and, prior to that, for a year in Tampa. Melanson and Williams have coached together in Vancouver for three years.

Gulutzan, 42, isn't yet certain what his defined role will be on the staff.

“I think Sully will be looking after the defence and I'll be working with the forwards and maybe the power play and penalty kill, or maybe we'll split those duties,” he said. “We've talked about it a little but the three of us haven't sat down and finalized anything yet. The Canucks are a very exciting team to be a part of.”

Sullivan, 45, has two college-age children and one in high school. As a player, he spent most of his career out west skating for the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames and Phoenix Coyotes. He was the Boston Bruins head coach for two seasons, in 2003-04 and 2005-06.

“Obviously it's an exciting opportunity for us when you look at the team,” Sullivan said. “It's a terrific team. As a player in Calgary, we had a great rivalry with the Canucks so I know about the market. I've worked with Torts for a few years now and he obviously respects what I bring to the table.”

Commented Tortorella: “Mike and I have been together for quite a bit and I think we're looking for another coach to join us with some fresh ideas. I think Glen is going to bring that.”

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I'm glad to see Glen accepting the assistant coaching gig alongside Torts and Sullivan. From the article and his pre/post game interviews from his time in Dallas, it looks like he still has quite a few ideas that could work well with the rest of the coaching staff who are open to revamping our line up.

Definitely stoked to see what they have in store for us in the 2013-14 season.

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Gulutzan was unfairly fired in Dallas. His record wasn't great 'cause he never had a good roster. The ownership situation was a mess and the team was almost always in "sell mode". Seemed like he did a pretty good job with what he was given.

That said, don't really know too much about him and his style... so we'll see :P

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He could improve our PP and PK while also working on our 5-on 5 offensive attack. Sullivan would probably work on the defensive side while Torts will be working on player's mental toughness and hardness of play.

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I remember Tortorella saying in his press conference that he felt it was important to have someone somewhat the opposite of his coaching style to help balance everything out. Torts is an in your face, tight defensive minded coach with Sullivan being in the same mind while Gulutzan is the calm, cool and more offensive minded coach. I think this tandem could work very well as long as torts gives Gulutzan the freedom he needs to be creative.

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