Dallas Stars Fire Jim Montgomery, Rick Bowness Replaces Him

Jim Montgomery is not the head coach of the Dallas Stars anymore. The franchise from Texas decided to fire the 50-year old earlier today, stating that the reason for such a decision is his “unprofessional conduct.” However, they didn’t reveal the real reason for such a radical action.

This was confirmed in a team statement released by the Stars’ general manager Jim Nill several hours ago.

“This decision was made due to unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League,” he stated.

The interim head coach will be Rick Bowness, who was the assistant coach under Montgomery.

LIVE: GM Jim Nill and Interim Head Coach Rick Bowness speak to the media. #GoStars https://t.co/WUQthNKyGO

— z – Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) December 10, 2019

Right out of nowhere, the Stars decided to fire Montgomery, one day after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presented his plan of action for abusive behavior inside the league. But, according to the insiders from the club, and several media representatives who are into the entire situation in the team, it appears that this decision was made even before Bettman’s new initiative.

Pierre LeBrun, who is one of the best-informed journalists when it comes to hockey, wrote on his Twitter account that reportedly, the Stars didn’t fire Montgomery due to any sort of abuse.

“I’m told the NHL was aware of the situation with Jim Montgomery even before Gary Bettman met the media here last night to announce the league’s 4-point plan, but that Montgomery’s dismissal does not fall under the auspices of that plan. Not related to it, apparently,” he stated.

Many are wondering why this happened in the period when Dallas played quite solid, and was posting good results. Right now, the Stars are 17-11-3, and are fourth in the Central Division, not far away from the top places. They are in the playoff zone, with a tendency to go even higher. Following their seven-game winning streak, the Stars had four losses in a row, three of them on the road, but managed to bounce back with two victories in the last couple of days over the Winnipeg Jets and the New York Islanders.

As for Montgomery, he came to Dallas after leading the Denver Pioneers’ men’s team, with whom they won the NCAA national championship back in 2017. Since he sat on Stars’ bench, the record of the Texas-based franchise was 60-43-10.

I’m told the NHL was aware of the situation with Jim Montgomery even before Gary Bettman met the media here last night to announce the league’s 4-point plan, but that Montgomery’s dismissal does not fall under the auspices of that plan. Not related to it apparently.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 10, 2019

During the only full season there, the team went 43-32-7 and was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs, which was labeled as a good result. Dallas eliminated the Nashville Predators in the first round and lost in the second to the later NHL champions, St. Louis Blues, after seven thrilling games.

Both the fans and the management expected a lot from this season. The management landed the All-Star superstar Joe Pavelski who signed as a free agent, and the plans were to at least repeat the results from the previous campaign.

However, that is interrupted now.

The 64-year old Bowness has been with the Stars since 2018, once he became the assistant coach. He has been in charge of four different franchises, Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and the New York Islanders. However, the last head-coaching job he had was in 2004.

Bowness’ record isn’t that good, as he posted just 123 wins in 463 games, along with 289 losses. He would reach the playoffs only once, in 1992 with the Boston Bruins, and lose int he third round.