Dallas Stars fire head coach Jim Montgomery for ‘unprofessional conduct’

Jim Montgomery becomes the latest NHL coach to face repercussions for “unprofessional conduct” this season.

The Dallas Stars have officially dismissed second year head coach Jim Montgomery from his position, the team announced on Tuesday. The decision, effective immediately, will see Rick Bowness take over as the Stars’ interim head coach for the foreseeable future.

The news came out of nowhere on Tuesday morning, blindsiding the hockey world as Montgomery was fired for “unprofessional conduct,” according to Stars’ general manager Jim Nill.

Nill released a statement in the Stars’ press release, which can be read here:

"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."

The Stars held a press conference with Nill a few hours after the news broke, though no new information was given to the media other than the fact that there is no criminal investigation involved in this incident. Stars players also have not been told the extent of the incident that caused Montgomery’s dismissal.

This season, the Stars have bounced back from a start that saw them lose eight of their first nine games on the year. As of Tuesday, the Stars sit in the first wild card position in the Western Conference with a 17-11-3 record and 37 points. Over their last 10 games, Dallas had gone 6-3-1 and have won two straight.

In May 2018, Montgomery was hired as head coach of the stars, becoming the 23rd head coach in franchise history after coaching the Denver Pioneers to a college hockey championship in 2016-17. In his first season with the Stars, Dallas went 43-32-7 and finished fourth in the Central Division in the 2018-19 season. The Stars ultimately lost in the second round of the postseason last year.

The NHL has seen a handful of coaches come under scrutiny this season due to various allegations of coaching abuse by current and former players. The Calgary Flames former head coach Bill Peters resigned in late November over racial slurs he said to a player a decade prior, while current Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Marc Crawford is currently under investigation for physical abuse against players.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman outlined the league’s no-tolerance policy on abuse at the Board of Governor’s meeting Monday night. The plan includes creating a hotline for players and team personnel to use to report inappropriate conduct, where teams will suffer “severe discipline” should an incident occur.

According to TSN insider Pierre LeBrun, Montgomery’s case was already known by the NHL before they released their mandate and is thus a separate incident altogether unrelated to an abuse allegation.