And while it has been hectic and life-changing, Montgomery said he does feel some amount of comfort in the fact he has been through this process before and succeeded.

The first-year Dallas Stars coach used his time not only to unwind and connect with his family, he also pondered where he has gone since moving from the collegiate ranks to the NHL.

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Montgomery went from being a head coach in the USHL to being the head coach at a top level program at the University of Denver. It was a challenge, and his team went 20-16-6 in his first season. By his fourth year, the Pioneers went 33-7-4 and won the NCAA championship.

During the process, he learned a great deal of patience.

"This year reminds me of my first year in Denver," he said. "There needs to be a lot of changes made, but you don't know what those changes are until you go through it. I think this break has been very healthy for that."

Video: Montgomery, Comeau reflect on Stars' midseason break

Montgomery has said over and over that this team needs to be more consistent. It just went through a 1-5-0 slump before beating a very good Winnipeg team heading into the break. It started with some dynamic offensive performances, and has more recently struggled to score.

And while mulling over all of this, Montgomery has been holding a pretty serious autopsy. He has looked at decisions that were made on the ice and off, and he has dissected his own performance during that span.

"In December, after we lost those four in a row, I thought that I lost my way a little bit and started to get a little too result-oriented," Montgomery said.

He says the break allowed him to reassess his attitude at the time.

"I've never been a result-oriented coach, and I thought I got a little too much on where we are in the standings," he said. "I think I got a little too negative because of it."

He added that when that happened, it affected how he was coaching the team.

"For myself, I got away from teaching 'The Process' and started worry too much about scoring more, worried too much about who was playing well instead of continuing to just stay the course," Montgomery said. "Patience is a hard thing in this league. That's one thing I've got to keep reminding myself is to be patient while being very hard on the things I believe in."

But can an NHL coach afford to be as patient as a college coach? Montgomery said you have to find a different way to be patient.

"You do sense the urgency for results, and that unfortunately influenced me the wrong way, and that's the learning curve I'm going through," he said. "I'm learning how to balance it better."

Still, he said there are some things that are just more challenging in his new job. In college, he had four days of practice during the week and that helped in preparing for the weekend games. It allowed him to adjust and teach and condition and coach. The 82-game schedule of the NHL means you have to make concessions.

"I do find with the practice time, it's hard to get the execution down to the level that I would like to be at," he said. "In college, you had four days of practice, so if I wanted to make Tuesday's practice two hours long until they got it right, I could. But we play the next day here, so how do you do that? That's been my biggest dilemma."

Because Montgomery wants his system to become rote for his players, the inconvenience of diminished practice time is pretty significant. Part of the team's inconsistency is they don't follow the plan the same way every game. He said he studied a lot during the break and wants to emphasize some key elements going forward to create consistency.

Video: Taking reins, Montgomery hopes to lead Stars to glory

"When we excel as a team, it's because of our puck pressure, and it starts with clean breakouts in our own end. That allows us to get on top of people on the forecheck," he said. "But then the most impressive part is when we reload, our forwards are working back towards the defensemen, which allows our defensemen to maintain gaps, which creates turnovers. In the games we play effectively, those turnovers lead to odd-man rushes."

Montgomery said that consistency throughout the team is the key going forward. Asked if that means keeping lines together on a consistent basis, he said not so much. While he likes to roll lines when things are going well, Montgomery said he has to be able to tweak when things aren't going well.

"When we play well, I don't switch lines," he said in regards to the question of too many changes.

That said, everything is on the table in terms of discussion. He believes in his personnel and he believes this team can make the playoffs.

Asked if he has enjoyed the coaching process this season, he said: "I love it, I relish it. That's why the break was so good, it was mental health. It was, 'OK, we've got a 33-game sprint coming up, stick to these things, and also the balance of how much communication I need with the players.' Knowing the players now, it's so much easier to know what makes them tick, and also what the key points are to hit on as reminders of what makes them really good for us."

He's been through it before, he said, and needs to lean on those past lessons now.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.