Fire(d) Bowness - Stars clean out coaching staff

[Troy McClure]

I want Bowness fired.

I get why he had the job to start the season. The interim coach had just taken this team to the Cup final in the crazy bubble (despite having done a bad coaching job leading up to the season being suspended). And then last season he had the excuses of injuries, covid, power outage interruption, lack of camp, etc. But this season, Bowness gets a full camp and mostly full roster, and the team looks as bad as the excuse-filled team we saw law season.

The single most dangerous weapon the team has is Gurianov’s one timer, and Bowness can’t figure out how to get it working, whether even strength or on the PP. That was a problem all last season as well. How many one timers has Gurianov tried through three games of this season? One? Coaching incompetence.

I also get there are roster problems with how super old this team is, but whatever Bowness is doing isn’t working. This team is boring. It’s not good. Their “best” forwards are completely invisible. Despite the top minute guys all having been here for multiple seasons, there appears to be no zero chemistry.

Fire Bowness. Try something else.

Click to read more...

 

[Azzuri]

Yep. Can't get his players motivated. Doesn't put players in their best position to succeed. Clearly doesn't practice crisp passing or offensive tactics. Dude's a dinosaur and I'd rather see Laxdall or Graham then him here.

 

[Blindsummit]

There are some of the usual excuses being trotted out on the official site today. The most ludicrous being that the players were "fatigued". Fer fecks sake it's only 3 GAMES IN to the season and they are knackered already??? What kind of training regime are they being told to follow in the off season? Or is it a free for all and they can slack off if they like? And what do they do in training camp if they can't condition themselves to stand the rigors of three games? And how do other teams cope with this horrendous and unexpected problem (/s off).

The absolute same issues are there from the past three seasons.

Passing is atrocious. Basic skills!!!
The above could be as players are so desperate to get rid of the puck they just blindly dump it anywhere. Why are they so scared to hold the puck? Are they being coached to dump at all costs in case they get caught with it? Either way it's giveaway and turnover city out there.
Puck handling is terrible. How often did I hear "the puck rolled off his stick" or "the puck jumped his stick" yesterday. Basic skills!!!
The "system" kills all offense. Players are so busy defending that all they want to (or are coached to) do after a long frantic shift defending is dump the puck and get off for a change.
Too many high paid players are invisible. Ironically it's the fourth liners that look like the best players.
There's a lot of huffing and puffing going on but with no purpose,
The PP is still useless. There are only two explanations. Either the coaching is terrible, or the coaching is OK and the players are just ignoring it. Either one is a continuing and big issue.
Other than Miro or Rads no one seems prepared to carry the puck in to the OZ.
Jamie Benn is now just a high paid hitter and charger.
Tyler Seguin seems lost.
The misuse of Roope and Gury is now bordering on criminal. Set your system up to exploit their skills not force them into a system that stifles them!

We could all go on I'm sure.

I got my hopes up that we would see some uptick this season, and am busy planning expensive trips to Dallas and other cities to see some games, including taking some non Stars supporting friends. But the dreck of the last two games really makes me think twice.

Sorry about the rant. I had to get it off my chest. Hopefully they will sort it out and at least put in the effort to turn it around.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

LOL< first in with the fire Bowness, fire Nill, etc. etc. etc. thread.

I doubt Bones forgot anything about coaching in the last few years. I was hoping he would remember his "activate the D" strategy that served so well in the playoffs in 2020, but I haven't seen that yet. Mostly, it doesn't seem the team is hustling, but that may be a factor of age.

It may be (but doesn't seem likely) that he has "lost" the team, which would be cause to fire. Or, they have tended to be streaky under his watch, for whatever reason, which is probably true of any team with mid range talent. At least we won the first one, so we won't start the season with a 7 game non win streak.

 

[Troy McClure]

LOL< first in with the fire Bowness, fire Nill, etc. etc. etc. thread.

I doubt Bones forgot anything about coaching in the last few years. I was hoping he would remember his "activate the D" strategy that served so well in the playoffs in 2020, but I haven't seen that yet. Mostly, it doesn't seem the team is hustling, but that may be a factor of age.

It may be (but doesn't seem likely) that he has "lost" the team, which would be cause to fire. Or, they have tended to be streaky under his watch, for whatever reason, which is probably true of any team with mid range talent. At least we won the first one, so we won't start the season with a 7 game non win streak.

If you were to look at the team's play over the course of his time at the helm here, how many games would you say they were playing well, playoffs included? 40%?

 

[David Castillo]

LOL< first in with the fire Bowness, fire Nill, etc. etc. etc. thread.

I doubt Bones forgot anything about coaching in the last few years. I was hoping he would remember his "activate the D" strategy that served so well in the playoffs in 2020, but I haven't seen that yet. Mostly, it doesn't seem the team is hustling, but that may be a factor of age.

I don't know why people talk about their playoff run like they did something drastically different. They didn't. More active d? Sure. But they only "exploded" for more goals because Calgary and Colorado had trash goaltending. Bowness thinks he's running a boot camp rather than a system, and it shows. They played the most raw minutes of any team last season. I thought it was silly when the NYR booth criticized Dallas for their age and said "they get tired easier" but combine that with Dallas literally chasing the entire game just to 'win battles' and maybe it's not that crazy after all. Hell I get tired just watching them on my barcalounger.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

If you were to look at the team's play over the course of his time at the helm here, how many games would you say they were playing well, playoffs included? 40%?

Well, his regular season point % is 56.5% over 1.5-2 years, so I will say closer to 56.5%.

As Hitchcock said, at the end of the day, you are exactly what your record says you are. Yeah, I recall games they played well enough to win and lost, and games they played poorly but lucked out and won. It all evens out.

The typical fan (and maybe human) look at things and most of what they see is the negative. Comes with the territory I guess. Add in that sports fans tend to view coaches on a pass fail grade system (i.e., you won the Cup or you didn't) and I can see where many fans call for a change.

I don't know what the stats are of long tenured coaches, i.e., Tom Landry vs. constant change of coaches and starting over, but I suspect it's slightly in favor of consistency. Besides, they think the entire team as constructed deserve one more shot before the big rebuild, including the coach. Understandable.

 

[Zapp]

There’s a reason Bowness was a career assistant.

The team needs an overhaul. Need to start dumping these old vets and build around Miro/Roope/JRob/Otter while you still can.

 

[eartotheground]

do nhl players really need the head coach to come teach them how to pass the freaking puck? any reason they aren't cleaning that shit up on their own time? idk that bowness is a great or even good coach, but at some point, the country club atmosphere in the locker room needs to change.

 

[Troy McClure]

Well, his regular season point % is 56.5% over 1.5-2 years, so I will say closer to 56.5%.

As Hitchcock said, at the end of the day, you are exactly what your record says you are. Yeah, I recall games they played well enough to win and lost, and games they played poorly but lucked out and won. It all evens out.

The typical fan (and maybe human) look at things and most of what they see is the negative. Comes with the territory I guess. Add in that sports fans tend to view coaches on a pass fail grade system (i.e., you won the Cup or you didn't) and I can see where many fans call for a change.

I don't know what the stats are of long tenured coaches, i.e., Tom Landry vs. constant change of coaches and starting over, but I suspect it's slightly in favor of consistency. Besides, they think the entire team as constructed deserve one more shot before the big rebuild, including the coach. Understandable.

My worry is the coach is going to be a big obstacle to this team taking advantage of its last shot before turning over the vets they have.

And a .565 points percentage is not good. In normal seasons, that rate is seldom a playoff team.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

Now everyone is upset but me talking about how shit they were in Game 1 GDT was a problem.

 

[Elysian]

The good will I had for this team going into the season is fading incredibly quickly. Nill putting our best goalie in the AHL was ridiculous enough, now we've got the healthiest roster we've had in ages, even with the Klingberg and Robertson injury, and Bowness can't seem to coach this team to actually want to play... I was hoping a healthy roster would help Bowness, but now it's becoming more and more obvious that Bowness and co are the problem.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

My worry is the coach is going to be a big obstacle to this team taking advantage of its last shot before turning over the vets they have.

And a .565 points percentage is not good. In normal seasons, that rate is seldom a playoff team.

Last year, only 6 teams were above that %, albeit the Stars were down around 5.14. So, no, .565 is not a bad winning percentage. Yes, the all time greats are better (Bowman was .630 career win %, for instance). We can argue whether the Stars have been a top third (i.e., 1-11) or top half, but they have been good, but not great.

I agree with you that this is basically seen as a make or break season, and I think the odds of the Stars ending up as true contenders or making it back to the finals is low (average is 6% back to finals, i.e., 6 of now 32 teams) and our odds probably are about average, maybe a bit less. It will take some real balls to declare they can't win it, given their "just make the playoffs" and run to the finals just a year ago. That said, they never got it together for this corp, and it would be a shame if in holding the group together on hope, they waste a few years of their now good drafts stuck in neutral or worse. As I said in another post, I think if they can get anything for Klinger close to what the Sens got for Karlsson, they ought to do it, if anywhere other than first or second in the Central when the trade deadline nears, and maybe even if just second in the central.

 

[M88K]

Last year, only 6 teams were above that %, albeit the Stars were down around 5.14. So, no, .565 is not a bad winning percentage. Yes, the all time greats are better (Bowman was .630 career win %, for instance). We can argue whether the Stars have been a top third (i.e., 1-11) or top half, but they have been good, but not great.

I agree with you that this is basically seen as a make or break season, and I think the odds of the Stars ending up as true contenders or making it back to the finals is low (average is 6% back to finals, i.e., 6 of now 32 teams) and our odds probably are about average, maybe a bit less. It will take some real balls to declare they can't win it, given their "just make the playoffs" and run to the finals just a year ago. That said, they never got it together for this corp, and it would be a shame if in holding the group together on hope, they waste a few years of their now good drafts stuck in neutral or worse. As I said in another post, I think if they can get anything for Klinger close to what the Sens got for Karlsson, they ought to do it, if anywhere other than first or second in the Central when the trade deadline nears, and maybe even if just second in the central.

His win % with the Stars is .45
An overall record of
94games-43wins-51 losses.

His points % is inflated thanks to 19 losses in ot/shootouts. But they're still losses

 

[Troy McClure]

Last year, only 6 teams were above that %, albeit the Stars were down around 5.14. So, no, .565 is not a bad winning percentage. Yes, the all time greats are better (Bowman was .630 career win %, for instance). We can argue whether the Stars have been a top third (i.e., 1-11) or top half, but they have been good, but not great.

I agree with you that this is basically seen as a make or break season, and I think the odds of the Stars ending up as true contenders or making it back to the finals is low (average is 6% back to finals, i.e., 6 of now 32 teams) and our odds probably are about average, maybe a bit less. It will take some real balls to declare they can't win it, given their "just make the playoffs" and run to the finals just a year ago. That said, they never got it together for this corp, and it would be a shame if in holding the group together on hope, they waste a few years of their now good drafts stuck in neutral or worse. As I said in another post, I think if they can get anything for Klinger close to what the Sens got for Karlsson, they ought to do it, if anywhere other than first or second in the Central when the trade deadline nears, and maybe even if just second in the central.

Be careful with mixing up win percentage and points percentage. You get very different answers.

But my worry is they aren’t even trying to get the best out of this group’s final run thanks to who is running the show. To harp on it again, what coach looks at Gurianov’s one timer and decides not to try to use it at all? Since the bubble playoff run, they’ve largely stopped trying to set it up.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

You can argue the metric, but there is no way the Stars have only shown up and played well 40% of the time, although it appears they are on a 33% pace now, which we hope improves. I think I saw a stat where over the last two years, the Stars were one of the most successful teams, measured in a bunch of stuff, like playoff rounds won.

I agree on not using Guri's one timer. By putting him with Benn, they are seemingly trying the Mike Modano route of turning a natural scorer into a two way player, and he is still turning the puck over (I've counted four really bad ones in the partial 3 games I have watched).

Actually, to me, Bones biggest mistake was taking Seguin off the other point, which was his strength. I recall Bones saying something like "I'm putting him back on there tonight, let's see if he earns another shot there." So, it does seem like Bones will sometimes try to not put people in their best positions, for whatever reason. He probably just demands as much loyalty to D as Trump demands from his supporters, with consequences to match, LOL.

Exhibit no. 3 is signing Pavs, and then taking a year and a half to put him in front of the net on the PP, where he accounted for most of his career scoring.

So, yeah, I get some of the frustration with Bones. That said, we have seen defensive oriented teams win, and offense oriented teams (i.e., Stars circa 2015-6) flame out. Without TB like talent, they think, and I am not so sure they are wrong, that a defense oriented game gives them a better chance. And, let's not forget that over the last year and a half, the Stars seem to turn on the offense in a hurry on many occasions, including late in the season and in games. It's not there now, but it will probably come around at some point soon.

 

[David Castillo]

do nhl players really need the head coach to come teach them how to pass the freaking puck? any reason they aren't cleaning that shit up on their own time? idk that bowness is a great or even good coach, but at some point, the country club atmosphere in the locker room needs to change.

Ottawa didn't have a single player break 40-pts last season. Dallas had three. The difference? Smith actively has Ottawa passing with a much more modern system (no good entry? Regroup - what a concept!). Bowness has Dallas chasing all night just to win 50/50 battles. They work so hard for so little, I don't know how anyone can look at this team and think the system isn't a major obstacle to unlocking better puck movement when the system literally asks them to chip it in, and throw shots on net instead of generating pre-shot movement.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Some nights they whip it around pretty well. Not sure if the differences are the opponent, tired legs and minds (shouldn't have been a factor) or that they just forget, or get lazy, especially on the PP. Or, it could be situational, as in being instructed to pass it in if you can, but if in doubt, dump and chase it as the best viable option if they have stacked the blue line.

And no doubt, so far this year, they are not winning those 50-50 puck battles close to 50% of the time, save for a few short stretches.

But, that problem has gone back to several coaches, where they start out moving the puck well, but eventually revert back to dump and chase.

 

[Sports2]

I feel bad for the players. If I was ever to make an excuse for general apathy and effort the team sometimes exudes it would be the revolving door of coaches and systems post-Ruff. This isn’t the right guy- are they gonna get him next time? Ever?

 

[Satan]

6 coaches since 2010
4 playoff appearances since 2010

This organization needs a complete overhaul.

 

[Troy McClure]

I feel bad for the players. If I was ever to make an excuse for general apathy and effort the team sometimes exudes it would be the revolving door of coaches and systems post-Ruff. This isn’t the right guy- are they gonna get him next time? Ever?

It's a bad spot to be in. No team wants to have a revolving door of coaches. The Stars don't want to go from booting Ruff, Hitch, and Monty in very short order to then fire Bowness. Some stability is important.

On the other hand, are you better off keeping the guy who happened to be the last man standing -- a guy you never would have interviewed for the head coach job in normal circumstances -- all because you want stability?

Maybe the better way to ask it is whether the value of this stability plus Bowness's own performance exceeds what it is another coach could do? I guess a lot of that depends on how much value this stability actually brings. Last season, there was no evidence it meant a thing.

 

[DangeRouss]

<Insert modern coach please>

 

[ugrakarma]

<Insert modern coach please>

Someone with leanings towards temperance movement perhaps. I don't know whether this is crying wolf or seeing that things will just not work early on. If your coach is calling out the top players after two games something is wrong for sure.

 

[redbeardtx]

Should have gotten rid of him when Gallant was available.

 

[JesusNPucks]

I agree that he needs to go. But the hard part for me to accept is that it probably means that Nill is gone too. For all of his faults, I still think he’s a great GM; but I don’t think he will get to pick another coach. In hindsight—and given that we never know what negotiations look like—Bowness probably should have gotten a one year “prove it” contract after the Cup run.

Instead, here we are in the second year and he’s regularly reverting to the “old ways.” And this, after showing such exciting promise and risk-taking in the Cup run, when he had nothing to lose. Now he looks like he’s just playing it safe, playing not-to-lose. And that’s no fun for any fan to watch.