With the Stars fighting for playoff positioning, Sunday’s last-minute regulation loss to the Blues was already costly for Rick Bowness. It only got worse today, as the NHL fined Bowness $25K for bashing a stick on the bench in a (pretty funny) post-game meltdown.
Stars coach Rick Bowness fined $25K after bashing stick on the bench
In the video above this post’s headline, you can watch the Blues score two power-play goals to flip a 1-0 Stars lead into a 2-1 St. Louis win. It definitely had to sting to not just lose, but go from two standings points to an agonizing zero.
(Honestly? Mark this one down if the Stars barely fall short of a playoff spot. Woof. Maybe it’s another nudge toward the Stars trading John Klingberg, too?)
Here’s that unintentionally funny footage of Bowness bashing a stick on the Stars’ bench after that loss:
Ahh, the agony of defeat. Stars coach Rick Bowness was NOT happy after losing to the #stlblues. pic.twitter.com/pgbVhhuEIm
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) January 9, 2022
The NHL merely referred to it as Bowness’ “actions on the bench.”
Check out comments from a very displeased Bowness from after the game:
Bowness was unhappy about the Stars being on the PK in that situation, particularly because of a possible missed call Miro Heiskanen should have drawn:
So this was a penalty *on* Miro Heiskanen, apparently pic.twitter.com/WiAcPlaNLR
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) January 9, 2022
“If you’re watching the game, you saw what happened,” Bowness said, via ESPN. “They clearly pulled Miro down. Clearly grabbed his stick and pulled him down. That’s my opinion. They got lucky.”
Thanks to that loss, the Stars fell to 17-13-2 on the season. While Bowness and the Stars entered Monday outside of a playoff spot, games in hand give them a real chance to make it. This loss didn’t help matters in what could be a tight race, though.
On more than one occasion, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour received a $25K fine for criticizing officials. Apparently, that’s the asking price for that genre of outbursts, then?
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.