Dallas Stars 2019-2020 Season Thread

[C-Man 27,685]

 
Love how he just abso-fucking-lutely won’t say shit. Yeah bro, the big question ain’t that. 

What do you want him to say? Nobody knows shit yet. Nill isn’t saying much. Incident came to light Sun, apparently. Sounds like whatever he did was late last week. No criminal investigation.

[C-Man 27,685]

“Sometimes the hardest decisions are the toughest.”
That’s fucking awesome. 

This is not a strength of Nill’s. Obviously.

[spystud13 2,371]

Okay, Startle-gram hero. We all know Heika knows, but his family eats because of the Stars. 

[NateHitch 1,282]

He was banging someone. No other Stars employees involved

[Longhorn_Fan68 34,079]

this has me genuinely bummed. I had hoped Monty would be coaching here for a while.

[NOMAAA 1,699]

9 minutes ago, NateHitch said:

He was banging someone. No other Stars employees involved

yeah feels like he might have grabbed some ass last week sometime.

[C-Man 27,685]

13 minutes ago, spystud13 said:

Okay, Startle-gram hero. We all know Heika knows, but his family eats because of the Stars. 

Snark aside, I think this generally caught everybody by surprise. This news dropped less than two hours ago.

Sounds like a pattern of inappropriate behavior off the ice with a final straw issue on last week's road trip. My educated guess would be that it's booze-related based on some traded texts in the last hour.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10,762]

 

[Mileslong 4,793]

I was thinking at first it was #metoo, but they say no abuse so first thought was perhaps betting on hockey games. Could be some racist past comment as well, those are about the only things that get you fired this quickly.

[Beau Vine 55,824]

This from the Athletic:

Quote

DALLAS — On Sunday, Jim Nill got a call about something he called a “material act of unprofessionalism” by an employee.

On Tuesday morning, he fired Jim Montgomery.

In between, Nill said he conducted an internal investigation. He spoke with ownership, management and general counsel and determined the act was “against the value and standards of the Dallas Stars organization.”

“It is very clear this can not be tolerated,” Nill said. “And therefore we have relieved Jim Montgomery of his duties immediately. It is an honor and a privilege to work in the NHL, and there is a standard that we are held accountable to as an employee of the Dallas Stars organization.”

Nill then made sure to clarify this decision was not based on on-ice performance and that there was no connection to any past or present Stars players.

Nill was vague and didn’t divulge much during a roughly 10-minute press conference about the decision, stating he wouldn’t do that out of respect for those involved.

He did say no other team employees were involved, and there isn’t an ongoing criminal investigation. He also said it had nothing to do with the recent points laid out by the NHL at the annual board of governor’s meeting, a meeting Nill said he didn’t attend because he was conducting his internal investigation.

Nill also clarified that the event in question happened a few days before he got the phone call and wouldn’t divulge who made the call.

The firing blindsided just about everyone on the team.

Montgomery was jovial and informative during Monday’s practice while meeting with media members. He talked about the coming week, and there was no indication it would be his final media availability as the Stars’ coach.

The Athletic reached out to Montgomery on Tuesday morning for comment. He has not responded as of this writing.

Rick Bowness will take over as the Stars’ interim head coach for the remainder of the season. He said he found out the news Tuesday morning, adding that it wasn’t how he expected to start his day.

Stars players were told in a team meeting on Tuesday morning that Montgomery was fired but weren’t told what he did according to the three Stars players made available to the media — Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and John Klingberg.

“It started off with confusion,” Seguin said. “Mostly the guys were confused on what’s going on seeing the brass here so early.”

“A huge shock,” Benn said. “Definitely didn’t expect that one and still shocked. It’s pretty crazy that we are talking about this.”

“We all want to know all the answers,” Benn added. “But that’s not the case. We believe that Jim Nill and our organization made the right move. So we’ll trust in them.

“We know Monty, but we don’t know what happened. It’s about the Dallas Stars here, and like I said, we trust the management that they’re making the right decision for the Dallas Stars,” Klingberg said. “It’s up to Jim and the management if they want to release what happened or not.

“You see this all over — everywhere right now, not only in hockey or sports but you see it in normal life as well. It’s a good thing it comes up, too; there need to be changes around this world, how you treat people and how you think about stuff. That’s a good thing. It’s all shocking, but like I said, we’re professionals in here. We have to move on, and we have full confidence in the organization that they’re making the right move here.”

1.  No team employees involved, so he wasn't banging an Ice Girl or the Assistant to the Traveling Secretary.

2.  Event happened a few days before Nill got phone call on Sunda, so its not abuse/racism in the past.

3.  No connection to any past or present Stars players.

Sounds to me like someone has video of Monty partaking in nose candy or something.  If he had been betting on hockey, I think the league would be more involved.

 

[Trey3216 15,450]

2 hours ago, spystud13 said:

“Sometimes the hardest decisions are the toughest.”

 

[Skipper 6,406]

28 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Sounds to me like someone has video of Monty partaking in nose candy or something.  If he had been betting on hockey, I think the league would be more involved.

 

Yeah, agreed gambling seems pretty unlikely.  My best guess is some combo of booze, drugs and/or hookers.  And something had to either have happened in public and/or someone had to help cover for him (or help him out of a situation that could have been bad) and ran it up the chain.

[vtaenz 603]

The only other rumor I saw was some Finnish podcaster whom had allegedly been spot on with breaking news, stated that it was alcohol abuse and subsequent behavior.

Normally though that type of stuff results in a leave of absence not a straight up immediate firing.

[Gucci_Suit 2,809]

1 minute ago, vtaenz said:

The only other rumor I saw was some Finnish podcaster whom had allegedly been spot on with breaking news, stated that it was alcohol abuse and subsequent behavior.

Normally though that type of stuff results in a leave of absence not a straight up immediate firing.

No shit. If this is the standard, nobody in the nhl or on the pitching staff of a mlb team should have a job. And also nobody that posts on this site. 

[Skipper 6,406]

1 minute ago, vtaenz said:

The only other rumor I saw was some Finnish podcaster whom had allegedly been spot on with breaking news, stated that it was alcohol abuse and subsequent behavior.

Normally though that type of stuff results in a leave of absence not a straight up immediate firing.

Probably depends on what the "subsequent behavior" was.

[NateHitch 1,282]

Bet he got hammered and sent Jim Nill's wife a dick pic

[C-Man 27,685]

6 minutes ago, vtaenz said:

The only other rumor I saw was some Finnish podcaster whom had allegedly been spot on with breaking news, stated that it was alcohol abuse and subsequent behavior.

Normally though that type of stuff results in a leave of absence not a straight up immediate firing.

 

3 minutes ago, Gucci_Suit said:

No shit. If this is the standard, nobody in the nhl or on the pitching staff of a mlb team should have a job. And also nobody that posts on this site. 

 

1 minute ago, Skipper said:

Probably depends on what the "subsequent behavior" was.

Booze squares up with what I heard earlier from a buddy who used to work for the team and still has contacts over there. But, man, you've got to really fuck up these days to have that be the death knell. He's not driving on road trips, there's apparently no criminal investigation -- is/was he buzzed up at the rink?

[Gucci_Suit 2,809]

18 minutes ago, NateHitch said:

Bet he got hammered and sent Jim Nill's wife a dick pic

Who hasn’t done that?

[vtaenz 603]

Booze squares up with what I heard earlier from a buddy who used to work for the team and still has contacts over there. But, man, you've got to really fuck up these days to have that be the death knell. He's not driving on road trips, there's apparently no criminal investigation -- is/was he buzzed up at the rink?

If he was buzzed at the rink there would be way more reports. The players genuinely seemed to not have a clue when interviewed this morning.

[Pato del Muerto 53,332]

Stealing signs with a camera?

[Gene Parmesan 4,062]

5 minutes ago, vtaenz said:

24 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Booze squares up with what I heard earlier from a buddy who used to work for the team and still has contacts over there. But, man, you've got to really fuck up these days to have that be the death knell. He's not driving on road trips, there's apparently no criminal investigation -- is/was he buzzed up at the rink?

If he was buzzed at the rink there would be way more reports. The players genuinely seemed to not have a clue when interviewed this morning.

Wouldn't necessarily have to be at the rink.  Lots of team activities and what not for an NHL coach.  I would think showing up drunk to anything related to a Stars activity would be pretty bad.  Showing up drunk to work for the rest of us will get you canned as well.  I don't think anything criminal has to be behind it to get you fired.

[RPM 26,560]

Hookers and blow?

[C-Man 27,685]

11 minutes ago, vtaenz said:

30 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Booze squares up with what I heard earlier from a buddy who used to work for the team and still has contacts over there. But, man, you've got to really fuck up these days to have that be the death knell. He's not driving on road trips, there's apparently no criminal investigation -- is/was he buzzed up at the rink?

If he was buzzed at the rink there would be way more reports. The players genuinely seemed to not have a clue when interviewed this morning.

 

Just now, Gene Parmesan said:

Wouldn't necessarily have to be at the rink.  Lots of team activities and what not for an NHL coach.  I would think showing up drunk to anything related to a Stars activity would be pretty bad.  Showing up drunk to work for the rest of us will get you canned as well.  I don't think anything criminal has to be behind it to get you fired.

Agreed on both counts. Just wondering what in the world happened that would force the organ-I-zation's hand to sack a head coach who has the team playing extremely well? Repeatedly getting fucked up and dragged out of bars/restaurants on the road? I guess. Seems like that would lead to a "Come to Jesus" meeting, maybe a stint in rehab and come back to the team. He obviously did something that was not able to be walked back.

[RPM 26,560]

1 minute ago, C-Man said:

Repeatedly getting fucked up and dragged out of bars/restaurants on the road?

You'd expect that to leak out either on social media by opposing fans, right?

[C-Man 27,685]

4 minutes ago, RPM said:

You'd expect that to leak out either on social media by opposing fans, right?

Not necessarily. I went on a few road trips with the Stars back in the early 2000's and remember one night getting completely hammered with Dave Tippett at an upscale restaurant called Cardero's on the water in Vancouver. This was Canada mind you and I think maybe only a couple people recognized who he was the entire time we were in there.

Edited December 10, 2019 by C-Man
NOTE: This was LONG before the days of social media, camera phones, etc

[Longhorn_Fan68 34,079]

I'm gonna be pretty pissed if this turns out to be something that should have been more of a reprimand or leave of absence than a firing. I cannot think of what might have prompted such an immediate dismissal that doesn't involve someone in the org. It really is troubling and puts a huge damper on the WC. It HAD to be bad, right?

[NateHitch 1,282]

It has to be bad. Nill said he received a phone call about an incident and they investigated, then fired him a few days later. I can't imagine it involved him showing up to a team function intoxicated, I don't think something like that would lead to such an abrupt termination. He had to have done something much worse than that. I'm sure more details will come out sooner or later but who knows

[vtaenz 603]

I'm gonna be pretty pissed if this turns out to be something that should have been more of a reprimand or leave of absence than a firing. I cannot think of what might have prompted such an immediate dismissal that doesn't involve someone in the org. It really is troubling and puts a huge damper on the WC. It HAD to be bad, right?

For sure, especially when it's stated that the organization had no choice but to fire him.

[BigDHornfan 6,625]

Got hammered and got caught with Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute.

[C-Man 27,685]

9 minutes ago, NateHitch said:

It has to be bad. Nill said he received a phone call about an incident and they investigated, then fired him a few days later. I can't imagine it involved him showing up to a team function intoxicated, I don't think something like that would lead to such an abrupt termination. He had to have done something much worse than that. I'm sure more details will come out sooner or later but who knows

And yet by most reports, Monty was very affable and all seemed normal during his media availability on Monday. This is so weird.

When was the team holiday party that Bruce Levine mentioned when he popped on with the Musers this morning? It was Sun or Mon, right? Only say that because my boss's son heard from somebody it was something that happened at this event but I don't think the timeline squares up to what Nill said in the PC this morning so I still lean toward what I heard that it was something that happened on back end of the last road trip and that it was a last straw type situation.

[Huckleberry 34,407]

Come on guys, I came to this thread to find out what happened because I was also wondering what exactly could have led to an immediate firing but no police investigation.

Although technically that doesn't rule out drugs and a prostitute. You can fire a guy without publicly listing his crimes. Firing is one thing, snitching on your recently fired employee to the cops is a whole other thing.

[C-Man 27,685]

Looking back the Stars' last road trip was 12/1 at Minnesota and 12/3 at Winnipeg. They lost to the Wild in a shootout after giving up a tying goal in the final minutes of the third before getting blasted by the Jets 5-1. The Stars came back and beat Winnipeg 3-2 in overtime on Thursday and then followed up with a 3-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday afternoon (or did they have the night game?). The team was off Sunday and Monday. Monty fired this morning.

[vtaenz 603]

Looking back the Stars' last road trip was 12/1 at Minnesota and 12/3 at Winnipeg. They lost to the Wild in a shootout after giving up a tying goal in the final minutes of the third before getting blasted by the Jets 5-1. The Stars came back and beat Winnipeg 3-2 in overtime on Thursday and then followed up with a 3-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday afternoon (or did they have the night game?). The team was off Sunday and Monday. Monty fired this morning.

Maybe after the game Thursday night or something that occurred on Friday?

 

 

[RPM 26,560]

Maybe he ordered one of those Cocaine Santa sweaters from Wallmart.ca

[Pato del Muerto 53,332]

Sometimes you call the wrong guy a hoser

[Junior Miller 1,502]

I'm pretty sure he just pulled some Mark Cuban shit. Got all liquored up last week then put his hands down Julie Dobb's pants and fingered her cooter. 

[Junior Miller 1,502]

Over/under on score tonight? Another massive distraction thrown at them but they're playing a shit that just fired their own coach last week. 

I say Stars win 4-3

 

[NateHitch 1,282]

Stars win 3-1

[Zepol87 9,308]

11 minutes ago, Junior Miller said:

I'm pretty sure he just pulled some Mark Cuban shit. Got all liquored up last week then put his hands down Julie Dobb's pants and fingered her cooter. 

I want to give that a try

[Longhorn Al 440]

I'm going to guess an affair.

- Not illegal

- Protecting all those involved (his wife/kids)

- Out of character (if he drinks, is getting drunk and doing something stupid a big surprise?)

- "Came to light" sounds more like something ongoing that finally got revealed

[Junior Miller 1,502]

I'm going to get a 95 to 99% of professional head coaches have affairs. There's zero chance anyone is getting fired for that unless he's doing it with someone within the organization like old school brutha did. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Junior Miller

[HRSchenker 2,331]

Just like Ron Washington's midseason resignation, we'll probably never get the whole story.

[C-Man 27,685]

I'm going to guess an affair.
- Not illegal
- Protecting all those involved (his wife/kids)
- Out of character (if he drinks, is getting drunk and doing something stupid a big surprise?)
- "Came to light" sounds more like something ongoing that finally got revealed

I’d be shocked if it’s an affair unless it was somebody in the organization or married to somebody. Wondering more and more if it’s nose candy or something.

[vtaenz 603]

I’d be shocked if it’s an affair unless it was somebody in the organization or married to somebody. Wondering more and more if it’s nose candy or something.

Nose candy is illegal and they did say it was not something illegal.

[Bill Brasky 1,617]

I'm going with gambling on hockey.   Or getting drunk and fucking another coaches wife or players mom.  

[Beau Vine 55,824]

6 minutes ago, vtaenz said:

11 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I’d be shocked if it’s an affair unless it was somebody in the organization or married to somebody. Wondering more and more if it’s nose candy or something.

Nose candy is illegal and they did say it was not something illegal.

No, they said there was no "ongoing criminal investigation."

Edited December 11, 2019 by Beau Vine

[Beau Vine 55,824]

1 hour ago, Junior Miller said:

I'm pretty sure he just pulled some Mark Cuban shit. Got all liquored up last week then put his hands down Julie Dobb's pants and fingered her cooter. 

Maybe he stirred the punch at the organIzation Christmas party with his dick?  I hear that can get you fired...

[Longhorn_Fan68 34,079]

He did give the team the day off somewhat suddenly on Sunday. I wonder if that's part of it. I'm thinking affair. Or a past racial or homophobic slur caught on video. Gambling might fit, but i doubt it. 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Longhorn_Fan68

[C-Man 27,685]

Nose candy is illegal and they did say it was not something illegal.

It’s illegal if the cops get involved. Could be a Greggo situation where somebody walked in on him in the middle of doing a bump or two.

[Longhorn_Fan68 34,079]

I hope it wasn't weed. Gonna be really pissed if it was weed. He did come from Colorado....