Denver coach and former University of Maine standout Jim Montgomery diagrams a play for his team. (Associated Press)
According reports published by TSN in Canada and by NBCSports.com, former University of Maine captain Jim Montgomery will be the next head coach of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League.
Bob McKenzie, a hockey insider for the Canadian network, first tweeted the news at about 1:50 p.m. Wednesday, saying an announcement is expected later this week.
Montgomery would replace Ken Hitchcock, who stepped down at the end of the past season. According to TSN reporter Frank Seravalli, Mongomery was one of about 10 people GM Jim Nill interviewed for the position.
The 48-year-old coach has spent the past five seasons coaching the University of Denver and led the team to a national title in 2017. In five years, Montgomery’s Pioneers have been to the Frozen Four twice and have won 125 games, an average of 25 per season.
That’s a far cry from the 42 wins he helped the University of Maine earn in 1992-93.
Montgomery was the captain of Maine’s most storied hockey team that went 42-1-2 and captured the 1993 national title, alongside the likes of NHL Hall-of-Famer Paul Kariya, and longtime NHL goalies Garth Snow and Mike Dunham, who have also had stints in the NHL as general managers or coaches.
Montgomery has no National Hockey League experience behind the bench. A native of Montreal, he appeared in 122 NHL games, but spent most of his career in the AHL. He retired from playing in 2005 and became an assistant coach with Notre Dame for the 2005-06 season.
He was thought to have been one of the leading candidates for the open University of Maine head coaching job in 2013, before taking the post in Denver.
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