{"id":28249,"date":"2018-05-02T14:52:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T18:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=28249"},"modified":"2018-05-02T14:54:36","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T18:54:36","slug":"dallas-stars-to-hire-jim-montgomery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/05\/02\/dallas-stars-to-hire-jim-montgomery\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Dallas Stars To Hire Jim Montgomery As Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Stars<\/a> will announce that they have hired Denver University head coach Jim Montgomery<\/a><\/strong> next week. This report is according to Chris Dilks of SBN College Hockey.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisDilks\/status\/991357866530557952<\/p>\n

Dallas Stars Hire Coach Jim Montgomery<\/h1>\n

The Dallas Stars will bring in Montgomery to replace the retiring Ken Hitchcock<\/strong>.\u00a0This season, the team finished with a 42-32-8 which left them in the sixth spot in the Central Division.<\/p>\n

Montgomery has served as the coach for Denver since 2013-14. He totaled a record of 125-57-26 in his five seasons in charge. He has NHL experience and played for the Stars from 2001-03. The Montreal native also played for St. Louis Blues<\/a>, Montreal Canadiens<\/a>, San Jose Sharks<\/a> and Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>. He guided the Pioneers to the 2016-17 NCAA national title. He made the tournament in each season at the helm.<\/p>\n

According to Francois Ganon of RDS, the two sides are expected to agree to a deal, perhaps as soon as the end of the week<\/a>. Montgomery gained a lot of attention last off-season and was a finalist for the Florida Panthers<\/a> job before he declined. He also got some interest from the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>. The New York Rangers<\/a>\u00a0had Montgomery on their radar as well.<\/p>\n

What This Means for the Team\u2019s Future<\/h2>\n

The Stars under-performed last season and are looking to make a change. Hitchcock did a great job fixing Dallas’ suspect defense, but the offensive punched lacked in spots. The injury to goalie Ben Bishop<\/a><\/strong> did not help the Stars’ chances. There’s hope he’ll be able to get Tyler Seguin<\/a><\/strong> and Jamie Benn<\/a><\/strong> going again.<\/p>\n

Montgomery is a proven winner at the collegiate level and has coached NHL talent at the school. It took a couple of years for former North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol<\/strong> to make the transition, but the Flyers look like a team on the rise.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>