What’s done is done, and now the Stars have to focus on what comes next. Plus, interviews from last night’s win, no World Cup for 2021, and more.

As you are no doubt aware of by now, the Dallas Stars fired head coach Jim Montgomery yesterday. Rick Bowness was promoted to interim head coach, and then the Stars had to turn around and play a hockey game that same day against the New Jersey Devils, which they won 2-0.

Usually when a coaching change is made, it’s because the team is struggling immensely and needs something to change. The Stars, in contrast, have been sitting in a playoff spot for awhile now, which actually inspires a little hope moving forward:

“Say what you want about whatever’s going on here, but Monty built a great foundation here and he’s put us back in a great position,” said forward Tyler Seguin. “We’re fighting for the playoffs here, we’re not getting four new coaches here. Everyone has been here, the players have been here, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity tonight.”

Last night was Bowness’ first game as a head coach in over 15 years, which means he had to shake off a little rust. Still, he has been one of the most respected NHL coaches of the past decade, and the veteran coach is grateful to the opportunity, regardless of the circumstances:

“Even at my age, you want to take another shot at it, so it means an awful lot to me to have one more kick at it,” he said. “There’s a lot more years behind me than ahead of me, I get all of that, but we’re just going to enjoy every day and we’re going to make the most of it. I’m very fortunate to be given this opportunity, I’m very fortunate that ownership and management has the faith in me to take this over. It means a lot.”

You can read more from Mike Heika here.

More Stars News

If you want more quotes regarding yesterday’s bombshell...

Moving on: here is Bowness’ first post-game presser as head coach of the Dallas Stars:

Here’s Ben Bishop, whose shutout last night was somehow his first of the season:

And last but certainly not least, here’s Joe Pavelski:

Speaking of Pavelski, will things turn around for the Stars’ veteran leader?

Central Census

‘Twas a busy Tuesday night in the NHL, and the Central Division was no exception;

Around the League

Where do the Stars rank among the league’s best “microcores?” Pretty high, thankfully enough:

A World Cup won’t happen in 2021, but that doesn’t mean the NHL is veering away from tournament ideas:

After last year, I’m all for praising under-recognized rookie defensemen who deserve it:

Finally, is it just me, or do we have this discussion about a team almost every year?