Stars Hire Former Olympic Figure Skater as Assistant Coach

The Dallas Stars got a late start on the coaching carousel, with their hire of head coach Glen Gulutzan on July 1 coming nearly a month after nearly every other team made their hires. As such, they're still putting the finishing touches on their coaching staff, and their latest hire is a very unique one.

On Friday, the Stars announced their hiring of former Olympic figure skating champion David Pelletier as an assistant coach. Pelletier, 50, had spent the past 11 years as a skating coach with the Edmonton Oilers after retiring from competition.

The Sayabec, Quebec, native's greatest skating accomplishment came at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, when he and his ex-wife Jamie Salé won gold in pairs. They initially finished behind the pair of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, but after a French judge admitted she'd been pressured to favor the Russians, Pelletier and Salé were awarded gold medals as well.

The pair also won a world championship at the 2001 competition in Vancouver, and shared the Lou Marsh Trophy (now the North Star Award) as the top Canadian athletes that same year. Pelletier is also a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame and the Skate Canada Hall of Fame.

Pelletier joins assistant coaches Neil Graham and Alain Nasreddine, goaltending coach Jeff Reese, head video coach Patrick Dolan and assistant video coach Chris Demczuk on Gulutzan's staff.

Gulutzan, 53, is entering his second stint as the Stars' head coach after previously leading the team from 2011-13. He spent the past seven years with the Oilers as an assistant coach.

Dallas fired former head coach Peter DeBoer on June 6 after losing to Edmonton in the Western Conference Final, marking the team's third straight loss in the third round.