Bewerbungen » n only beat ourselves, Pierschbacher s

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."Quincy Williams II Womens Jersey . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Leonard Fournette Jaguars Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. http://www.officialjacksonvillejaguarspro.com/Josh-oliver-jaguars-jersey/ . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Yannick Ngakoue Youth Jersey . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. Chris Conley Jersey . Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime, and the Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter.TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nick Saban doesnt want to hear that maybe Alabama can lose in the Southeastern Conference championship game and still get into the playoffs.Its a distinct possibility for the top-ranked Crimson Tide going into Saturdays game against No. 15 Florida, but one they dont want to test. A team thats won 24 consecutive games and beaten 16 straight SEC opponents doesnt go into any game accepting losing.You all want to put everything on the playoffs, man, Saban told reporters Monday, his voice rising. Thats all you care about. You dont care about bowl games, you dont care about any teams in the country that arent in the playoffs. I dont know. If we dont win this game, maybe we throw a stink bomb out there, maybe we dont get in the playoffs.I dont know. You guys have all the answers to that, but I dont. All I know is that if we play and we play well, we control our own destiny in terms of what we do. So Id really rather not have any more questions about `Is it OK to lose this game? Its never OK to lose a game.The Tide (12-0) isnt expected to lose this one, either. Alabama is a 24-1/2-point favorite over the Gators (8-3), who won their second straight SEC East title.Perfection is hard to attain in the SEC, even in a down year for the league. Saban has brought four national championships to Tuscaloosa but only one unbeaten team, 14-0 in 2009. He has won his last eight national or SEC championship games, but did lose in the playoff semifinals two years ago.Alabama is riding the third-longest winning streak in both Alabama and SEC history, prevailing by an average of 24.8 points per game. The Tide won 28 straight games twice, from 1978-80 and 1991-93.Anybody who says that you can afford to lose a game doesnt know what its like to play sports, tailback Damien Harris said after Saturdays 30-12 win over Auburn.Every other national contender -- from Ohio State to Clemson and Washington, Michigan and Wissconsin -- has lost at least once.dddddddddddd Conference championships are among the criteria the selection committee is instructed to emphasize.Before the playoffs, this was essentially a semifinal game in 2008 and 2009 when Florida and Alabama split a pair of 1 versus 2 matchups. The winner went on to win a national title.I think ultimately it was the national semifinal, said Gators coach Jim McElwain, a former Tide offensive coordinator.This one might not be a must-win game for Alabama, which is seeking its fifth SEC championship under Saban. Every Tide game these days has that feel, though.Alabama has won its last three games by a combined 112-18 or allowed a touchdown in more than 13 quarters. It is clearly the strongest resume nationally -- so far.Guard Ross Pierschbacher worked hard not to brag when asked if Alabama would need to contribute some mistakes to the opponent to lose a game.I think we have the mind-set that we can only beat ourselves, Pierschbacher said. Ill just leave it at that.The most emphatic way for the Tide to prove its playoff worthiness is to beat Florida. Otherwise, Alabama must endure the wait-and-see mode like other hopefuls.You dont want your season to have to come down to a committee choosing your stakes, tight end O.J. Howard said. Weve just got to take care of business ourselves on the field and we control our own destiny.NOTE: Left tackle Cam Robinson is the SEC offensive lineman of the week. ... Starting cornerback Marlon Humphrey is nursing a right leg injury. Were going to take it easy with him for a day at least for a little while and see how it goes, Saban said. Were hopeful that hell be able to practice some later in the week and be OK for the game.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '