ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Pyle Accepts Head Coach Position with AHL Texas

Published on July 13, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


Gwinnett Gladiators head coach Jeff Pyle has accepted the head coaching position of the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League, the primary development affiliate of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League. Pyle replaces Glen Gulutzan, who was promoted to the head coaching position for the Dallas Stars.

Pyle served as the Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the Gladiators for the past eight seasons since the team's inception in 2003. He holds all Gladiators head coaching records and was an ECHL All Star Head Coach selection for three consecutive seasons from 2004-06.

"On behalf of everyone in the Gladiators organization, we are proud to announce that Jeff Pyle has accepted a coaching position in the AHL with the Texas Stars," said Gladiators President Steve Chapman. "While we will all most certainly miss Jeff, we could not be happier for him to get this well deserved opportunity. Candidly, it has been long overdue. The goal of almost every player and coach in the ECHL is to get the opportunity to move up - the opportunity to see how far their talent can take them. The AHL is one step away from the National Hockey League. Jeff is now there and he deserves it. Our entire organization thanks him for his hard work, the commitment to our organizational values and for his passion for helping young men develop into better players and better people. We wish him all the success in the world in Texas and we will all be pulling for him."

Under Pyle's direction, the Gladiators reached the Kelly Cup Playoffs in six of his eight seasons including five seasons with 40 or more wins and set an all time team record with 50 wins and 107 points during the 2005-06 season that included an appearance in the 2006 Kelly Cup Finals.

Pyle leaves the Gladiators just 45 wins shy of the ECHL record for most coaching wins in an ECHL career and ranks third all time for most wins with 446 career regular season wins behind John Marks (491) and John Brophy (480). Pyle recorded his 400th ECHL coaching win during the 2009-10 season. He began his coaching career with the organization, serving as the head coach for the team's final four years in Mobile as the Mysticks from 1998 through 2001.

Before joining the organization in Mobile, Pyle was an assistant coach for Grand Rapids of the International Hockey League in 1997-98 following six seasons coaching in Germany. He began his coaching career in 1985-86 when he was a player/assistant coach with Saginaw of the IHL.

Pyle played 13 professional seasons in North America and Germany beginning in 1981-82 with Binghamton of the American Hockey League. Pyle played five seasons in the IHL, two with Flint and three with Saginaw and in his 10-year career he scored 1,313 points (490g-823a) in 795 games. He was named as a league all-star eight times and league Most Valuable Player three times. Pyle was named team MVP nine times and helped his teams win four league titles.

Pyle will assume his new position with the Texas Stars immediately while Gwinnett has begun the search for a new coach.

"I'm honestly looking forward to the process," said Chapman. "The challenge will be to find not only a coach that has the credentials from an X's and O's standpoint - but also to find a coach that understands the effort that is necessary in terms of recruiting, managing and dealing with the tasks of the day-to-day life in the ECHL. Everyone at our level has to wear multiple hats - it comes with the territory. We're looking for someone with the energy and passion to pour into the effort. Equally important, we're looking for someone that buys into the "Gladiator" way of doing things. We're here for the fans and we're here to be a positive force in our community. If someone just wants to coach hockey - they won't be a good fit. We want someone that would enjoy our culture and fit into our hard-working family atmosphere."

The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the Premier "AA" Hockey League and play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

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