No Bones about it: Stars share admiration for former coach Rick Bowness

Rick Bowness won't be at American Airlines Center Monday night, but his spirit will be.
The former Stars head coach who was hired by the Jets in the off-season is stuck home with a positive Covid test, so he's not with the Jets as they take on the Stars. However, the impression he left on Dallas and its players was a significant topic of conversation at morning skate.

"Just much respect for the man, for his career, and when you meet him personally, just the personal touch he has with everybody he has crossed paths with," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "There are very few guys that have been in the game as long as him. You can't find anybody that has a bad word about the man. I've got a tremendous amount of respect for him. He's done a fantastic job here of laying a foundation of defending and being hard to play against and playoff success. I think his fingerprints are on this group from his time here."

Bowness was hired as an assistant coach in 2018 and was then named the head coach in 2019. He went 89-62-25 as head coach and won three of five playoff series.
"Our time together was awesome," said Stars captain Jamie Benn. "I built a great relationship with him."
Center Tyler Seguin said that Bowness was the perfect coach to help the Stars through the pandemic and the playoff bubble in Edmonton.
When asked about what Bowness built in Dallas, Seguin said, "He brought us all together. The way he can bring a group with wives and girlfriends and be family-oriented and make it a place where everyone can feel comfortable, and yet a place where everyone was still accountable. He has a really good balance of business and work with family. He's a man you want to look up to."
Seguin said he keeps up with Bowness through text messages, and Benn said he was in touch this week.
"There's a lot of respect, for sure," Benn said. "I was texting with him yesterday, checking in to see how he's doing. There's a lot of respect out there. The relationship was beyond a player and a coach. He's definitely a great person and a good family man."
Key Numbers
3rd
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was named the NHL's third star of the week. Oettinger went 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .968 save percentage. Sidney Crosby was the first star and Connor McDavid the second star.
50
Tyler Seguin has 50 points (27 goals, 23 assists) in 43 career games against the Jets.
5
In four games against the Jets, Jason Robertson has five goals, including a memorable overtime game-winner.
He said it
"Everything. We found a way to win, did some good stuff, but everything we're doing has to get a little bit better. It's early in the season, so that's normal. But you can't look at the standings and say we're in a good place. When you watch the tape like we do after every game, it becomes obvious all of the areas we have to get better."
Stars coach Pete DeBoer when asked what the team has to improve on after a 2-0-0 start.
Expected lineup
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Marchment-Seguin-Dellandrea
Benn-Johnston-Gurianov
Kiviranta-Faksa-Glendening
Heiskanen-Miller
Lindell-Lundkvist
Suter-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Wedgewood
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.