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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Checking in with Jim Montgomery

The former Stars’ head coach spoke with Elliotte Friedman the other day about his recovery. Plus, updates from Dallas on the current league suspension, the financial impact of losing games, and more.

For at least a brief moment, let’s take our focus away from COVID-19 and focus on some more Dallas Stars specific news.

A couple days ago, Elliotte Friedman shared an interview he recently had with Jim Montgomery, the former Stars head coach who was fired for unprofessional conduct earlier this year. Montgomery did not reveal what that conduct was, but he maintains his previous stance that his firing was just:

“I lost my way,” Jim Montgomery says. “I was terminated, and rightfully so.”

...

“It was surreal, like an out-of-body experience. All I could feel was incredible shame and guilt. All I was thinking was that it was going to be tough to protect my family. Making mistakes that affect them… it hurts.”

Earlier this year, Montgomery checked himself into a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse. He’s 90 days sober as of this past Tuesday:

“It helps me do the right things,” he says. “The disease made me selfish. I was raised to be a great teammate, to hate people who are (selfish). But I was the one who was selfish. I’m a process-oriented person, and my process now is becoming a better person, father and husband.

“I am not defined by what happened. I will be defined by what I do going forward.”

You can read more about Montgomery in Friedman’s 31 Thoughts here.

Stars News

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled coronavirus discussion (already in progress). Here’s Stars President Brad Alberts on the suspended season:

Have questions? The Stars have some (but not many) answers:

Here’s how the team’s players and staff will be handling the current suspension of play:

Alexander Radulov is notably getting tested for COVID-19 due to being sick recently, but the Stars aren’t expecting him to test positive:

This is technically not hockey related, but...

Around the League(s):

The NHL doesn’t have it’s own “patient zero” yet, but some Carolina Hurricanes staff members have had indirect contact with the NBA’s:

To avoid situations like this is precisely why the NHL suspended play in the first place, and why the AHL, ECHL, and CHL have all followed suit:

Scouting has also been effected, with tournaments such as the Under-18s being cancelled as well:

Of course, the biggest impact will be financially, especially for the hourly workers behind the scenes:

Greg Wyshynski talked with players across the pond about how it felt to have their hockey seasons outright cancelled, not simply postponed:

Assuming the NHL doesn’t follow the same path and play does resume eventually, what might that look like?

Finally...

It is my belief that, in such tense times, we find little moments to make us laugh and cheer us up. With that being said:

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