Three NHL Coaches Who Are On The Hot Seat
Rick Bowness
The Dallas Stars had high expectations heading into the 2021-22 season. They just missed the postseason last year and this season they would have star centre Tyler Seguin for more than three games.
They also added Ryan Suter to a blue line that already featured Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg. They have a good mix up front of youth (Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Denis Gurianov) and veterans (Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, Seguin, Joe Pavelski) and are very similar to the roster that went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020.
They should be higher than 6th in the Central Division standings. Their 8-7-2 record just isn’t good enough and hasn’t met the expectations of the team at the start of the season. They brought in veterans like Suter and Braden Holtby because they thought they were close to conceding in the Western Conference, but they are battling to stay afloat in the playoff race.
Things appeared to hit a fever pitch in Minnesota last week. Bowness had told Minnesota native Riley Tufte that he was going to play that night in his hometown. Tufte bought tickets for many family and friends who thought he was about to play his first game at the Xcel Energy Center. Then, a couple hours later, Tufte was told he was actually scratched because Tyler Seguins was surprisingly ready to go for the night’s contest.
This did not sit well with the team’s fan base and though it sounds like it was kind of innocent, it wasn’t a great look. If the team was sitting atop the standings it probably would have blown over quickly, but fans are quite upset that the coach treated a young player that way and had all his family buy tickets only to have him sit in the press box.
Plus, the Stars got blown out 7-2 that night to drop their record to 6-7-2 on the season. It appeared to possibly be the end of the line for Bowness, but it as not and the team has bounced back nicely with a pair of wins afterwards. That’ll save his job for now, but the Stars could be a two game losing streak away from finally cutting ties with Bowness.