DALLAS -- Bob Gainey announced Monday that he'll be stepping down as general manager of the Dallas Stars after this season, a move he's been planning for two years.

Gainey will be replaced by Doug Armstrong, his assistant since 1993. Gainey will be a consultant for one year and isn't sure what he'll do after that. He's been in the NHL the last 28 years, since he was 19.

"I don't really have a plan," Gainey said. "It still feels a long way away. I'm not investigating or probing trying to find where I'll be."

Gainey has followed a Hall of Fame playing career in Montreal with a stellar tenure as a coach and general manager of the Stars franchise. Over 11 seasons, his teams have reached the Stanley Cup finals three times, winning it once.

Hired as coach of the Minnesota North Stars in 1990, Gainey guided his first team to the Cup finals. He added GM to his duties the following year and held both jobs through January 1996, when he turned over the coaching position to Ken Hitchcock.

In the five full seasons they've been a tandem, the Stars have won five straight division titles and two Presidents' Trophies for best regular-season record. Dallas won the Cup in 1999 and returned to the finals in 2000.

After that season, Gainey signed a three-year contract that made him GM for 2001 and '02, then a consultant in '03. It was determined then that Armstrong would be his successor. Armstrong is signed as GM through 2005.

Gainey said his decision to stop being GM is similar to the decision he made to give up coaching.

"Most of these trains end up off the rails. I'd rather get off at a station," he said. "The job is a leadership position. There's something about leadership in knowing there's a time" to leave.

Gainey and team president Jim Lites have been talking about announcing the turnover plans since September. They were planning to do it Thursday until the Fort Worth Star-Telegram broke the story in Monday's editions, prompting the team to call a news conference.

"In my 18 seasons in the NHL, I know of no person more qualified, more dignified than Bob Gainey," Lites said. "He's our strength. His mark is on every aspect of our team."

Gainey was a defensive-oriented forward whose leadership earned him the role of captain of the Canadiens for eight of his 16 seasons. He played on five Stanley Cup champions.

He's built the Stars very much is own image, believing defense and goaltending are the main building blocks to success. Armstrong shares many of those beliefs.

"What he's put in place, we can follow that path," said Armstrong, who has been with the Stars for 11 seasons.

Gainey said that Armstrong could've left for other organizations, but stayed in Dallas because he knew this promotion was waiting. His duties have increased since the succession plan was arranged.

"He has a full and complete understanding of the game, what it takes to be general manager, what it takes to make a run at the Stanley Cup this year and to build our team long-term so we can turn five division championships into 10," Lites said.

Dallas, which was swept from last season's playoffs in the second round, is off to a slow start this season, partly because several of Gainey's off-season moves didn't click. He responded by trading Jyrki Lumme and Donald Audette, two free agent signees.

"I really don't see anything that's going to change in the next few months," Gainey said. "We'll find a way to make it work for the betterment of our team. It shows we can do things differently here than other places."