It's a far reach for any of us to imagine we could be players, so questioning the decisions of the top superstars in the world is a bit of a fool's errand.
But criticize coaches … yeah, we can do that.
And so when the man on the sideline or behind the bench makes a decision, it is there to be scrutinized by all. It's part of the fun of following a team, it's one of the nuisances of taking the job.
The Stars are in the middle of some intriguing times, and that means there's a good deal of focus on the decision making of Rick Bowness. The veteran assistant coach was moved to interim head coach on Dec. 10 when the Stars fired Jim Montgomery. Bowness has said he felt a duty to take over at a tough time, and has pledged to do the best he can do. He lives that pledge every day.
Bowness is definitely old school. He believes in building a team and an identity and still is in the middle of that process. He has been here since the start of last season, so he definitely is carrying on the work that has already been started by Montgomery. At the same time, he's his own man and he has to put his own imprint on this team if he wants to be successful.
That's just the way these things work.
The head coach is a leader, and leaders have to lead. Bowness is trying to do that.
Now, his coaching style is communal, to be sure. He absolutely trusts assistant Jeff Reese with goaltending decisions. They talk a lot, but Reese typically makes a lot of the calls on what goalie plays when. He absolutely trusts Derek Laxdal and Todd Nelson to run the power play. He absolutely trusts Kelly Forbes with any replay decisions. And he absolutely trusts John Stevens to do the job Bowness was doing a few months back in running the defense.