On the whole, Ken Hitchcock's six-year stint as head coach of the Dallas Stars was a stunning success. He drove his team to five consecutive division titles, two straight trips to the Stanley Cup Finals and a championship in 1999.

Only legendary coaches Toe Blake, Fred Shero and Glen Sather earned more victories in their first 500 games as a head coach in the NHL.

On Friday, though, despite being six games over .500, Hitch got what all coaches eventually get ... a pink slip. And, of course, the post-firing eulogy was the same: the players tuned him out.

Hitchcock's problems with his players have been well documented over the past few seasons. It seems, at one time or another during his tenure, almost every Stars player seemed disenchanted with Hitchcock. No, it wasn't just Brett Hull and Ed Belfour -- they were the only ones with the guts to go on the record.

Now, the players get what they apparently wanted, a new coach. With Hitchcock gone, management won't be accepting any more excuses from whining players.

Veteran Stars assistant Rick Wilson, who has done a brilliant job developing defensemen Derian Hatcher, Richard Matvichuk and Darryl Sydor, takes over on an interim basis. Wilson has a calmer presence and is a good communicator. Perhaps, this Stars team will respond to Wilson in the same way that the Devils responded to Larry Robinson when he replaced unpopular Robbie Ftorek late in the 1999-2000 season. That year, the Devils denied Hitchcock's Stars a second straight Cup in a six-game final series.

I don't see that happening, though.

Actually, I expect this to be the start of another remodeling process. If new GM Doug Armstrong can move Belfour, he will. Right now, Philadelphia seems the most likely landing spot for Eddie the Eagle, who'll be an unrestricted free agent at season's end.

Ironically, the only reason that Belfour wasn't moved last summer was Ken Hitchcock, who stayed fiercely loyal to his goaltender in personnel discussions.

The club is prepared to go forward with Marty Turco as it's top goalie. And, they have a hot young prospect in the system in 19-year-old Jason Bacashihua, who was their top pick in the 2001 draft.

Also, in the offseason, I expect Armstrong will look to hire current Canadiens' assistant coach (and former Stars player) Guy Carbonneau as the club's new head coach. Carbonneau is highly respected by everyone in the organization and would be an excellent fit in Dallas.

As for Hitchcock, he'll turn up behind another bench. Hitchcock is a career coach and a damned good one. In this case, the Stars' loss will be someone else's gain.

E.J. Hradek writes puck for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.