After forcing a Game 7 in their First Round Western Conference series with the Calgary Flames, Rick Bowness says the Dallas Stars are proving their doubters wrong.
(This article was originally published on 15.05.2022)
The Stars, 35/1 to in the Stanley Cup this season, stayed alive in the best-of-seven series with a 4-2 win on Friday and will play a winner takes all Game 7 in Calgary on Sunday.
Wild Card entrants
Dallas entered the playoffs as the first Wild Card from the Western Conference (46-30-6), while Calgary won the Pacific Division (50-21-11).
The Stars were the only team to make the playoffs with a negative goal differential (minus-8). Compared to the Flames, who led the Western Conference at plus-64, Dallas weren't picked by many to progress, a view, however, not shared in their dressing room.
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Dallas won Game 2 by shutting out the Flames 2-0 in Calgary, with the other two at the Scotiabank Saddledome narrowly going the way of the home side (1-0 and 3-1).
Bowness was promoted from assistant coach to the head coach role in December 2019, and in that first season the 67-year-old led the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final, where they were beaten in six games by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Proving people wrong
He commented to the media: "I know we're not supposed to still be playing, we're supposed to be on a golf vacation right now, but that wasn't our intention going in.
"As I said right off the bat, we didn't get into the playoffs to be somebody else's steppingstone in the second round. Here we are going into a Game 7, and our guys deserve a lot of credit."
