Now GM, Hull back in a starring role for Dallas

DALLAS -- Eight years after Brett Hull won the Stanley Cup for the Dallas Stars, his job is to find the players who can bring them another one.

As the Stars' new interim co-general manager, count on the always-opinionated Hull being blunt about what the team needs.

"You just can't snap your fingers and go, 'Let's be the Russians,'" Hull said Wednesday. "We're going to get together and figure out the best way to make that happen."

Stars owner Tom Hicks fired Doug Armstrong on Tuesday and replaced him with Hull, added to the Dallas front office last year, and Les Jackson. The change came after the Stars' 7-7-3 start that followed three straight first-round playoff exits.

The shake-up continued Wednesday with Stars president Jim Lites being replaced by Jeff Cogen, who was plucked from the front office of Hicks' baseball franchise, the Texas Rangers. Cogen had the same role with the Rangers. Jackson was the Stars' assistant GM.

With Dallas embarking on such an internal overhaul, one of Hull's first gestures as GM was to throw his support behind sixth-year Stars coach Dave Tippett, whose contract expires after the season.

-- The Associated Press