If we look really hard, we can all find ways in which 2020 wasn’t entirely a “hold my beer” response to a remarkably awful 2019. And for those of us who watch them closely, the Dallas Stars provided several moves and moments that put a little joy into a singularly joyless year.
One of those, surely, was the emergence of Rick Bowness as a viable and effective head coach – and that has landed him on ESPN’s list of “NHL People Who Leveled Up In 2020.”
Bowness took over as a reluctant bench boss after the job was essentially thrust upon him in December 2019.