By Jordan Long
The Dallas Stars currently have a record of 17-11-3 for a total of 37 points, 4th in the Central Division and 1st in the Wild Card standings. They look to improve on their record tonight against the New Jersey Devils. Dallas will do it with a new Head Coach. They fired Jim Montgomery for unprofessional conduct but didn’t say what that entailed.
Montgomery was hired by the Stars on May 4th, 2018. Before joining Dallas, he was successful at the University of Denver. He coached them from 2013 to 2018. During his time in Denver, they went an outstanding 125-57 with 26 ties. DU advanced to the Frozen Four twice under him, 2016 and 2017. They won the National Title in 2017 when they beat the University of Minnesota Duluth 3-2. The Stars hoped he would have the same success in the NHL.
Last year the Stars ended 43-32-7 for 93 points, making the postseason as the 1st Wild Card team. In the 1st -round they knocked off the Nashville Predators in 6 games. In the 2nd -round they were beaten in 7 games by the St. Louis Blues, the eventual Stanley Cup Champions.
This season the Stars had high expectations. They wanted to make the postseason and advance deeper in the playoffs. Now they will try to make a postseason run with an interim head coach.
According to ESPN, Dallas Stars’ General Manager Jim Nill said, “The Dallas Stars expect all of our employees to act with integrity and exhibit professional behavior while working for and representing our organization. This decision was made due to unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.”
Montgomery’s actions towards players and staff cost him his job. The Stars couldn’t tolerate his behavior anymore and decided it was time to move on. Montgomery needs to learn from this, especially if he is hired again. Montgomery must be respectful to everyone. He ends his Stars tenure with a record of 60-43-10, a winning percentage of .575.
Dallas is going to move forward with assistant Rick Bowness as the interim Head Coach. Once the year is over, Dallas will start a search for their next Head Coach. It could be Bowness if he takes them to the playoffs and they win a round.
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