It may be hours, days or even weeks before the public knows the full extent of what just happened with Jim Montgomery and the Dallas Stars. What we know now, is that whatever happened was bad.
Tuesday morning, like everyone at M.I.T staring at a math problem nobody can figure out, and where only the janitor Matt Damon knows the answer, this puzzle is an odd one. Interestingly, Stars GM Jim Nill is playing the role of the janitor in this scenario and he did a lot of clean-up quickly.
There was no warning, no suspension, just immediate termination after Nill received a phone call this weekend suggesting Montgomery had done something there was no coming back from. The official statement read: “This decision was made due to unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.” Nill said in his media conference on Tuesday, this was a hard decision, but the right one.
So What The Heck Happened?
As details rolled in, things were becoming a bit clearer but not nearly clear enough for most people’s liking.
First, whatever happened, the NHL was aware of it before Commissioner Gary Bettman took the mic earlier in the week to reveal the NHL’s new four-point Code of Conduct plan. Montgomery’s incident had nothing to do with that plan or a violation of the new code.
Second, Nill received a phone call over the weekend and immediately knew Montgomery had crossed line. Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the issue was not player abuse related and Nill confirmed that no players past or present were involved, but Montgomery either did or said something that shocked the Stars GM. Enough so that after confirming whatever happened actually happened, Montgomery was gone.
Legal Action Against Montgomery?
Nill said over and over during his conference that he could not and would not detail the incident. He said it was out of respect to those affected, but the assumption is, there may also be some legal ramifications coming from this.
That said, there is no criminal investigation going on.
“We all want to know all the answers,” Jamie Benn said of the news he was told his coach was fired. “But that’s not the case. We believe that Jim Nill and our organization made the right move. So we’ll trust in them.”
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