Dallas Stars: Top Five Candidates To Fill Head Coach Vacancy
On Friday morning, Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock announced he will be retiring from his post as the Stars’ bench boss. Now, Dallas must search for a replacement.
Ken Hitchcock is a future Hall of Famer. The third-winningest coach in the history of the National Hockey League leaves a legacy of a Stanley Cup title, two conference championships, three Olympic gold medals, eight division titles, and 823 career wins behind as the 66-year-old announced his retirement on Friday.
After drastically improving a flawed defensive system, Hitchcock’s impact on the Dallas Stars was obvious. But, at the end of his tenure, the many negatives of his time in Dallas began to outweigh the positives, as the Stars monumentally collapse and failed to reach the postseason for the eighth time in 10 seasons.
Hitchcock’s second stint with the Stars did not produce the desired results, but Hitch accomplished what he wanted to: rather than being shoved out of the league, he retired on his own terms.
Coach Hitchcock will remain with the Stars organization in an advisory role, but the void he leaves as the bench boss is large.
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As of Friday, the search is on for the next Dallas Stars head coach. Ideally, Dallas does not follow the same path as the hiring of Hitch a year ago, opting to select the first coach on the market.
Rather than a veteran coach with multiple stops at the NHL level, the Stars need a fresh, progressive face who rewards offensive creativity over defensive discipline.
No Alain Vigneault, no Michel Therrien, no Bob Hartley, no Jack Capuano, no Dan Bylsma, no Willie Desjardins, no Dave Tippett, no Darryl Sutter.
Instead, a forward-thinker whose system is modeled around the new NHL – as opposed to the 1990s – who can reestablish the Stars as that fun, energetic, fast team every national writer tunes in to.
With that, here are the five best candidates for the head coaching job with the Dallas Stars.
David Quinn is regarded by many to be the NCAA’s best men’s hockey coach. At the very least, he’s in the conversation. If you haven’t heard of Quinn, it’s likely because his experience in pro hockey is limited: three years as the head coach of the American Hockey League’s Lake Erie [Cleveland] Monsters, and just one in the NHL as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche.
However, his resume at the college level speaks for itself. As the head coach of the Boston University program, Quinn has twice won the Hockey East regular season crown and the conference’s tournament. In five years at the helm for the Terriers, Quinn has led the club to four NCAA tournament berths, including a Frozen Four appearance in 2014-15.
In the same 2014-15 campaign, Quinn won the Bob Cullen Coach of the Year honors for his 28-9-5 (14-5-3 in Hockey East) efforts. Quinn’s BU team plays a high-intensity, hard-working, quick style that could work effectively in an evolving NHL.
Quinn has handled some extremely talented individuals, and his experience in that regard could help the likes of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Having coached NHL stars Jack Eichel, Clayton Keller, and Charlie McAvoy as well as up-and-coming NHLers Jordan Greenway, Kieffer Bellows, and Dante Fabbro, Quinn knows how to make space for superstars to produce with offensive creativity.
If you’re looking for a nostalgia factor, Quinn was selected 13th overall by the Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas) in 1984. He is, in a sense, ours already,
. Associate Coach. Montreal Canadiens. Kirk Muller. 4. player. 152
Since we’re all about bringing back past fan favorites and re-inserting them into today’s game, former Dallas Stars winger Kirk Muller is a man to keep an eye out for. Muller, currently an associate coach with the Montreal Canadiens, also has more experience on an NHL bench than anyone else on this countdown.
Muller is 80-80-27 in his coaching career, all of those games coming with the Carolina Hurricanes, a team for which he served as bench boss for three seasons. Though the ‘Canes failed to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Muller, they made considerable improvements with the four-time NHL All-Star.
Muller is known as one of the game’s top associate/assistant coaches, and many believe he should have already gotten his next chance as an NHL team’s head coach. Muller actually manned the bench as an assistant coach with Ken Hitchcock’s St. Louis Blues clubs, and might be able to implement a system with the same valuable defensive approach.
Otherwise, Muller has a reputation as a player’s coach who prioritizes a risk vs reward style of play. He could boost a saggy Dallas Stars power play (19.2%) that fell behind the league average in 2017-18 with a system that encourages creativity.
Jim Montgomery is like Kirk Muller in that he once wore a Dallas Stars jersey as a player, and in that he is a highly respected coach. Montgomery, however, has not yet coached in the NHL – until 2018-19, perhaps.
Montgomery’s accomplishments span far and wide as the head coach of the University of Denver men’s hockey program. Twice the National Collegiate Hockey Conference tournament champion, and a previous winner of the NCHC regular season crown, Montgomery completes the trifecta of team-centric championship honors with an NCAA national championship won back in 2017.
Jim Montgomery is a verbal and intense “player’s coach.” He’s a screamer and a jokester, a fighter and a lover — a man of all situations. – Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
Montgomery is a two-time champion at the United States Hockey League ranks, leading the Dubuque Fighting Saints to the Clark Cup in 2011 and 2013. Long story short, wherever the 48-year-old goes, he wins. His 125-57-26 record at Denver includes five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
It’s not like the Dallas Stars to take a chance on a coach without previous pro hockey experience, but it’s time for a culture change. Jim Montgomery is a player’s coach and a rising candidate for any open coaching seat, and might fit in best with the Stars. (Oh, and he might be able to reinvigorate Jason Spezza).
Speaking of Jason Spezza, let’s start this slide out with a fun fact. Jason Spezza failed to win the 1999 Ontario Hockey League MVP Award because he lost to… Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe. Keefe was a gifted player, but an even smarter human being, and has been one of the American Hockey League’s top head coaches since his 2015-16 hiring.
Keefe has the Marlies playing an extremely fast, high-energy transition game that rewards speed and skill down the middle, rather than incentivizing a less exciting, physical board play game. If anything sounds Dallas Stars-esque, it’s speed and skill in center ice, right? Keefe could be the perfect addition.
Toronto, under the watch of Keefe, currently stand atop the AHL’s league standings at 52-18-2-2 with 108 points and a .730 winning percentage. His overall record is an absurd 148-63-11-4, which includes three trips to the Calder Cup Playoffs in as many seasons.
Keefe is the next best head coach, and he’s only 37. He’s younger than current NHLers like Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, and Roberto Luongo, but could be a head coach in the majors in weeks. It’s no coincidence that Keefe is so lionized in pro hockey.
If I was Jim Nill (I’m not, and I’m glad), Todd Nelson would be my choice and I would hire him as soon as possible. The head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins implements an extremely unique defensive system that is equal parts disciplined and creative.
It’s a base 2-3 defensive system with the center acting as an extra defenseman, then zooming upward just a tad to create a 2-1-2 of sorts. Grand Rapids routinely dominates in the neutral zone, and generates so many turnovers going back the other way that offense is never a scarcity. Having just recently watch a depleted Griffins club play admirably against the Texas Stars, I fell in love with the system.
Otherwise, Nelson has a tremendous list of accolades to boast on an NHL resume. He’s won a Calder Cup with the Detroit Red Wings affiliate, and been to the AHL’s postseason six times with Grand Rapids and the defunct Oklahoma City Barons. Nelson has won 293 career games in the AHL.
Nelson might be the most reserved coach of the five in this slideshow, but the 48-year-old is a perfect mix between hockey discipline and fresh-faced progression. He would be a splendid addition to the Dallas Stars locker room.
Next: Stephen Johns Was A Bright Spot For Stars In 2017-18
The Ken Hitchcock era in Dallas is over, officially. We’re looking forward to the new era, though, with a regime led by, hopefully, one of these five coaches.