Jim Montgomery had an inkling that he may want to get into coaching when he put together floor hockey teams in high school.
But it wasn’t until he attended the University of Maine that he firmly decided coaching was the profession he wanted to pursue.
He has now reached the pinnacle of the profession by landing the head coaching job with the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars.
Montreal native Montgomery, 48, is the fourth coach to go directly from college to the NHL. He spent the five seasons at the University of Denver, leading the Pioneers to a 125-57-26 record and the NCAA championship in 2017.
“The reality that coaching was what I would like to do came during my career at Maine, probably my freshman year,” said Montgomery, the school’s all-time leading scorer who captained the Black Bears to their first NCAA title in 1993.
“I loved Shawn (late head coach Shawn Walsh) and (assistant) Grant (Standbrook) and Bruce Crowder, followed by Red (Gendron)….the knowledge they imparted on us and everything they brought to the team … just how everybody was on the same page,” said Montgomery.
“I thought ‘Man, this is something I want to do when my playing career is over.’”
Montgomery enjoyed a 12-year pro career that included 122 NHL regular-season games, 572 minor-league games and 20 games in Russia.
“As a player and as a coach, I truly believe that when you are part of a special program, it helps you be successful for the rest of your life. I can’t thank Shawn and Grant enough for the impact they had on my life,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery was a player-coach with the Missouri River Otters during his final pro season (2004-2005) before spending a year as an assistant at Notre Dame. He coached four seasons at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and three as the coach-general manager of the fledgling Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League before landing the Denver job.
Montgomery led Dubuque to two USHL titles and posted a 118-45-21 mark. He hired Standbrook as a part-time consultant.
Montgomery said his mindset has changed dramatically from the time he became an NHL player.
“I never thought I could compete with the likes of players like (former UMaine teammate) Paul Kariya, Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan and Peter Forsberg,” he said. “As a coach, I have an immense amount of confidence I can coach at this level and be successful.”
Montgomery, a member of the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame as an individual and with the 1992-1993 team, which was inducted last fall, said he will continue a Walsh trait of seeking constant improvement and not being afraid to try something new.
The blueprint he has maintained will remain the same because it has worked, but he is prepared to make adjustments.
“I’ll treat the players like men and I’ll coach to our identity,” Montgomery said. “We will practice to our identity and I believe in a high level of communication from coaches to players, players to players and coaches to coaches.”
He hopes his example can help other college coaches land NHL jobs.
“I’d like to help break the stereotype that you need to be in pro hockey before you can have success as an NHL head coach,” said Montgomery.
“Thirty-five percent of the players in the NHL are former college players but 35 percent of the coaches aren’t former college coaches,” said Montgomery. “There has got to be more.”
Montgomery hopes to have the Stars play an uptempo, attack-minded style.
“To me, championship hockey is getting after people and putting people on their heels. That has proven to be successful at the NHL level,” he said.
The Stars didn’t make the playoffs this season, but they racked up 13 more points than a year ago and boast three of the NHL’s top 31 scorers in Jamie Benn (36 goals, 43 assists), Tyler Seguin (40 & 38) and Alexander Radulov (27 & 45). And John Klingberg (8 & 59) was tied for second in points among defensemen.
“The best players in the world are in the NHL and we have some of them. We have real good depth and we were the fifth youngest team in the league. It’s an exciting time to be here,” Montgomery said.
He is looking forward to working with Dallas general manager Jim Nill and CEO Jim Lites.
“When you meet people you are potentially going to work with every day and they are bright, hardworking people, you get real excited,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery has two former UMaine stars on his roster in goalie Ben Bishop and center Devin Shore. Bishop was 26-17-5 with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage while Shore had 11 & 21 in 82 games. Bishop suffered a knee injury against Calgary on March 18 and missed the rest of the season.
Another former Black Bear, forward Brian Flynn, signed a two-way contract with Dallas and spent the entire year in the American Hockey League where he had 18 & 29 in 66 games. Flynn has played in 275 NHL games.
“It’s always nice to be around other Black Bears,” said the married father of four, whose first order of business will be to hire a coaching staff and contact all of the players.
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