Heika: Despite tough start, Bowness still the right coach to lead Stars

I'm a fan of Rick Bowness.
And there's a lot of reasons why.
One, if you're ever with him at a road arena, the amount of respect he garners is amazing. People around the league - the best people around the league - know Bowness and what he has accomplished, and really hold him in high regard. He has obviously treated people well and done things the "right way," and that shows in his interactions across the NHL.

Two, he was given a really tough assignment when he took over after the Stars fired Jim Montgomery in December 2019. Bowness hadn't been a head coach in 20 years, he was taking over a coaching staff that was still coming together, and he drove the Stars to a 20-13-5 record and one of the top four spots in the Western Conference heading into the playoff bubble. That wasn't easy.
Three, he then made the best of the shutdown for the COVID pandemic in March 2020, coordinated with those coaches, and put the Stars in a great place in Edmonton once August came around in 2020. Dallas was able to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2000, pushing past three pretty good teams in Calgary, Colorado and Vegas. One of the biggest reasons Dallas was able to handle the challenge of being stuck in a hotel and playing before empty arenas was because of Bowness. His demeanor of intensity and poise was absorbed by the team and was a huge factor in managing a very odd experience.
Four, he was able to get the team through last season's crucible of injuries and COVID, and weather, and keep them at least in a place where they could learn. He and the coaching staff combined with the players to survive 2020-21, and the hope is he and the coaching staff and the players are better for it.
That's why I don't get the "Fire Bowness" crowd. Yes, this team is underachieving through nine games. Yes, there are a lot of holes that need to be patched. But to go through the process of smoothing things out, it seems like Bowness is the perfect guy for the assignment.
Think about it, he hasn't had very many normal days in the office. He has been juggling vaccinations and hockey pucks and athletic tape ever since he took the job, and he's sitting at 46-36-21 so far.
His team was missing Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov and Ben Bishop for most of last season. Yet, he still was able to find a line of Roope Hintz with Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson to lead the way. They were forced to deal with an incredibly condensed schedule, yet still were sixth in scoring chance differential, according to Natural Stat Trick. Dallas ranked 12th in scoring chances for and second in scoring chances against during the 56-game 2020-21 campaign - with that lineup and that schedule.
So, as much as I understand the frustration with the "style" Bowness coaches, it sure does seem to put people in the right place. Now, there's a real history of not being able to finish scoring chances, there's a real history of not being able to score at even strength, there's a real history of not being the best team in overtime and shootouts.
And the coaching staff deserves blame for that.
But it's shared blame, and they welcome their share. If you talk to the coaches and players, they're united in their zest for solutions. They're equally frustrated, and equally motivated to put the puck in the net.
And quite honestly, now is the time to do that. Bowness has not had a fully healthy roster before. He does now. He hasn't had a schedule that includes time for practices and rest. He does now. He hasn't had a divisional setup where the team should be favored to not only make the playoffs, but do well once they get there.
He does now.
That's why it makes sense to be patient. All indications are that now is the time for them to come together and perform. If they don't, then you react. But you have to trust your thinking from the summer. You have to trust that Seguin, Radulov, Pavelski, Jamie Benn and Ryan Suter still have some gas left in the tank. You have to believe that Hintz, Robertson and Miro Heiskanen are just starting to enter their prime.
I look back at the 1999 Stars and take a lot of lessons from that group. They wanted the pressure, they wanted the expectations, they wanted to look into the eyes of their teammates and demand more. This edition could use a little more of that swagger because just like it was with that 1999 team, the clock is ticking for a lot of these players.
I understand those who worry that keeping things together might "waste" another season of Benn and Seguin, but let me submit that I believe trying to start over would be the riskier move. This team is set up for those two to succeed right now, so why not try to make that happen?
Dallas has a team that can play strong defense and try to create offense from frustrating the opposition. It's a slower, older team, so that philosophy seems to make a lot of sense, really. Use your brain, use your hands, use the puck to move faster than the skaters. Use your poise and veteran calm to win close games, to play consistently, to outwait the opposition.
To be honest, Bowness seems like the right coach to do that.
And to be a bit harsh, there is a "reset" button already in place.
If this team doesn't show signs of being a contender before the March 21 trade deadline, then moves will have to be made. Contracts expire after this season for Pavelski, Radulov, Klingberg, Luke Glendening, Blake Comeau, Andrej Sekera…and Bowness.
So the pressure is already there. Win now or there will be changes.
Bowness understands that and embraces it.
It's one of the reasons I'm a fan.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.