Former Dallas Stars Coach Fired Only a Month Into Season

On Tuesday evening, it was announced that former Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery was fired by the Boston Bruins after a disappointing 8-9-3 start to the season. 

The decision to fire Montgomery is somewhat perplexing due to the amount of success he has had during his time in Boston. He is finishing his tenure with a 120-41-23, and he led the Bruins into the postseason the past two years before being knocked out by the Florida Panthers both years. 

Prior to being with the Bruins Montgomery arrived in Dallas in 2018 and quickly became one of the most popular coaches in the metroplex due to quickly turning the Stars into a competitive team once again and getting them into the postseason for the first time in three years.

Montgomery's tenure in Dallas was short-lived. On December 10, 2019, he was released from the team due to what ownership described as "unprofessional behavior inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Star." It was later revealed that Montgomery was released from the team due to an issue with alcohol, and he subsequently checked into rehab after his dismissal. 

Since Montgomery's dismissal from the Stars, he has served as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues and helped the Blues qualify for the playoffs in the two years he was with the franchise. He later became a head coach again after being hired by the Bruins prior to the 2022 season.

As mentioned earlier, Montgomery was able to find early success in Boston, making it to the postseason two years in a row. Since the start of the 2024 season, however, the Bruins have been unrecognizeible to the team they have been the previous two years and currently sit near the bottom of several NHL categories. They have the second-worst goal differential in the league, at -21, through the first twenty games of the season.

Overall, it is disappointing to see a coach as successful as Montgomery be released so early in the season. However, due to Montgomery's strong reputation throughout the league and resume, he will most likely be at the helm for another team sooner rather than later.

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