Bowness weathering COVID-19 storm
HALIFAX — Rick Bowness put on a brave face as a coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc on the Dallas Stars training camp and put their roster in flux.
Seventeen players from the Stars, including four of their top six defencemen, returned positive COVID-19 tests. The NHL said most of the players who tested positive are asymptomatic and all are recovering without complications. But the upsurge forced the cancellation of four days of training camp and pushed back the start of their regular season to Friday at the earliest at home against the Nashville Predators.
“S--- happens and you got to roll with it and deal with the hand that you're dealt with,” said Halifax's Bowness, who also has ties to Cape Breton.
“When you're dealing with a lot of unknowns, as we are with COVID, we have to prepare to change and adjust day to day. We usually put out a weekly schedule, telling everybody exactly what we are doing. But at the top of the page, it reads, ‘subject to change on a daily basis.'
“We teach our players just to roll with the punches. Whatever happens we're going to deal with it. The guys were in great shape and great frame of mind. Now we're starting all over again. The difference is we have half of our team out with COVID for at least a week. We had to change our whole practice plan because we had it set up for scrimmages but now, we don't have enough bodies to do that.
“But we have to have an open mind and be ready for change, which we've done. This is something we haven't dealt with before. So, we just say, ‘OK, now we adjust.'”
In a season already filled with moving parts and uncertainties, the Stars initially postponed their first three games of their season after six Dallas players and two staff members tested positive for COVID-19.
Bowness, who is entering his second season as head coach of the Stars, said the team took all the necessary precautions to be protected from the threat of COVID-19. Video sessions are done in wide open spaces with proper social distancing. All personnel wear a mask in the dressing room. The only time players don't wear a mask is on the ice and during off-ice conditioning.
“We took every precaution we could and we still have it,” Bowness said matter-of-factly.
“I would be shocked if we're the only team that this happens to over the course of the next four months. I know the NBA had to cancel some games. This is a moving target, man. It'll be constant adjusting of your roster, your lines, your special teams, everything is going to be a constant change. As coaches you just have to prepare the team as best as you can and be ready to go.”
Bowness, who turns 66 on Jan. 25, said he's stayed healthy during the outbreak. He even returned to his home in Grand Lake for 16 days in November.
“It was my first time back in Halifax in November since I was 16 years old,” he said. “I went away to play junior hockey when I was 16 and never was back for a November since. “But I feel great. I wear a mask on the ice and in all of the meetings. At my age I have to take extra precautions. I've been fortunate to stay away from this thing.”
Bowness has coached more games than anyone in NHL history but the Stanley Cup has become an elusive brass ring. He has been to four league finals as a coach but has yet to raise the Stanley Cup.
The Stars lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2020 final in Edmonton, one of two Canadian hub cities (Toronto was the other) to host the two-month NHL postseason tournament bubble.
For the 2021 campaign, the 31 NHL teams have been realigned in four new divisions and each team will play a 56game schedule against teams only in its division. The Stars have been placed in the Central Division with the Lightning, Predators, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings.
With a condensed season, there's less margin for error. Rescheduling games could be a headache with teams basically scheduled to play every other day.
Dallas is already without star forward Tyler Seguin and No. 1 netminder Ben Bishop, who are both recovering from off-season surgeries. Still, Bowness is eager to get the season going and build upon the momentum gained from a playoff run which saw the Stars come within two wins of capturing the Stanley Cup.
“We're going to miss Bishop and Seguin, but as long as we can stay healthy, we can continue to where we left off,” said Bowness, who was hired by the Stars in June 2018 and became head coach in December 2019 after the team fired Jim Montgomery.