Bowness set to play his former team and the stakes are high

WINNIPEG, MB - In a parallel universe, there is a real chance Rick Bowness would have never gotten the chance to be an NHL head coach again.
The veteran NHL mind had been an assistant coach for 14 straight seasons since his last coaching gig and might have been one of the best "defensive coordinators" in the league. So it made sense that he stayed at that level for more than a decade and was not selected when a new head coaching position opened up (despite the fact he was looking for a possible return).

But when Jim Montgomery was fired by the Stars, Bowness had to take over in a whirlwind, and he pushed his team to the Stanley Cup Final, earning an immense amount of respect around the league.
Fast forward to Tuesday night in Winnipeg, and Bowness will be the head coach of the Jets facing his former team, and none of that seems out of place.
But even the 67-year-old bench boss said he understands how strange this trip has been.
"Yeah, I'd say that was odd," Bowness said with a grin when the history of his journey was brought back to him Monday after practice.
He said the departure of Montgomery for "inappropriate conduct" back in December of 2019 was alarming, and that the ensuring events as he and the team tried to make things work was challenging, to say the least. He said he's thankful it has all worked out for everyone now.
"It was unfortunate and I'm thrilled that Jim is back behind the bench in Boston and doing a great job there, because he's an excellent coach and I'm very, very happy for him," Bowness said of Montgomery landing the head coaching job with the Bruins, where he is 10-2-0. "That whole thing was weird. They canceled the season, the bubble, three training camps in one year, then Covid and the snow storm (that canceled Stars games). So the whole thing was weird. But, yes, I'm very happy I was given the opportunity, there's no question about that."
That chain reaction led Bowness to get the head coaching job in Winnipeg, and while he had a hiccup concerning a bout with Covid to start this season, he's now back on the bench and leading a team that is 7-3-1.
While the Stars defeated the Jets in Dallas, 4-1, earlier in the season, Bowness was stuck in Winnipeg quarantining, so this will be the first time he gets to face the Stars, and that should be a pretty big element of the festivities Tuesday.
"We know this is an important game for Rick Bowness and I think it's an important game for some of the guys in our dressing room, too," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "We know where we are in the standings with them, so it's an important game."
Dallas is in first place in the Central Division at 8-3-1 and the Jets are in second place. That makes this meeting even juicier. And for Stars players, facing Bowness will be fun. He started out as their defensive assistant coach and became their head coach, and in both jobs, he was true to himself and a friend to the players.
"He's just passionate," said center Tyler Seguin. "I think the biggest word for him is passion. He wears his heart out there every day. He could be having a bad day, but you won't know. He's always yapping around with everybody. He's a great man; only positive things to say about him."
Seguin said that while the team is doing great things under the new coaching staff, they still lean on many of the things that Bowness taught. Dallas ranks second in the NHL in goals against average at 2.25, and that was always an emphasis of the Bowness way of hockey. In fact, Winnipeg ranks third right now at 2.45.
"He was a great part of our locker room and a big part of what we're still trying to do," Seguin said. "We use a lot of things that he taught us defensively and things he taught us as a group and as a family. There are a lot of good messages from his time here."
Now, he's trying to do the same thing with the Jets. That's sort of the way of the NHL. DeBoer gets moved out of Vegas, but finds success in Dallas. Bruce Cassidy gets moved out of Boston but finds success in Vegas. Bowness gets moved out of Dallas, but finds success in Winnipeg.
It's a coaching carousel, and now Bowness has one of the lead horses, and that's a pretty neat thing.
"He was pretty impactful," said winger Jason Robertson, who was named the NHL's first star of the week. "He's kind of helped me get in my groove, so it was definitely a big impact for me."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.