Coaching changes have worked for Golden Knights and Stars as they meet in Western Conference final

A replacement coach is going to the Stanley Cup final.

We know this because the Western Conference final features the Vegas Golden Knights, with Pete DeBoer, against the Dallas Stars, with Rick Bowness.

Neither started the season as their team’s head coach. In fact, DeBoer started with San Jose, was fired Dec. 11, and was hired by Vegas on Jan. 15 to replace Gerard Gallant.

Is this a trend? The Blues won the Cup last year with Craig Berube as a mid-season coaching replacement. The Penguins did it in 2016 with Mike Sullivan.

Bowness, officially the interim head coach, was promoted from his assistant’s role on Dec. 10 when Dallas fired Tim Montgomery for “unprofessional conduct.”

There was a long gap between head coaching gigs for Bowness. He had a solid run from Winnipeg in 1988-89 to the Islanders a decade later, with stops in Boston and Ottawa in between. Then there was a 20-game stint in Arizona in 2003-04.

He has only guided a team in the playoffs once before, getting as far as the East final with Boston in 1992. At 65, he’s the NHL’s oldest head coach. “I’m just happy for the guys,” Bowness said. “This isn’t about me whatsoever. I’m an old guy just enjoying the ride.”

Fun Fact: Bowness has a ring from the 1938 all-star game. The ring belonged to Gordie Drillon, the Maple Leafs’ last scoring champion in 1937-38, and was a gift to Bowness’s father.

Here’s a look at the Western Conference final. How we’ve done so far: Qualifying round: 5-3; conference quarterfinals: 5-3; conference semifinals: 2-1 (before Game 7 of Philadelphia-New York Islanders).

Forwards

Vegas: It seems like all their parts are interchangeable. Chandler Stephenson morphs from the fourth line to first line seamlessly, depending on forechecking needs. Mark Stone leads in points (six goals, nine assists), Alex Tuch leads in goals (seven) from the third line. Ryan Reeves can change the game with a big check. It’s an older group, but with age comes savvy. And they are still quick.

Dallas: Denis Gurianov and Joe Pavelski have eight goals each while Alexander Radulov has seven for a balanced Stars attack. Jamie Benn (five goals) got going against Vancouver. Tyler Seguin (two goals, five assists) has yet to ramp up. Bowness however has gotten his star players to buy into a defensive mentalitybut they can score in bunches.

Fun Fact: The Knights have only won 43.9 per cent of their faceoffs, 23rd of the 24 teams in the post-season.

Defence

Vegas: The offence runs through Shea Theodore, with six goals and 10 assists so far. He controls the blue line with efficiency on the power play. The addition of Alec Martinez (team-leading 38 blocked shots) from L.A at the trade deadline has balanced the blue line. Nate Schmidt offers leadership and toughness too. None of the top four defencemen — Brayden McNabb is the other — averages more than 23 minutes a game, meaning DeBoer has faith in them all.

Dallas: The buzz is all about Miro Heiskanen, who leads all defencemen in the playoffs with 21 points (five goals, 16 assists). His 25:54 of average ice time is second to only Tampa’s Victor Hedman (26:00) among players remaining in the playoffs.

Fun Fact: The Stars have allowed 32.3 shots against per game, the most among the surviving teams.

Goaltending

Vegas: The Knights have had their share of goaltending drama. The original Golden Knight — expansion draft pick Marc-André Fleury — has given way most nights to Robin Lehner, the trade-deadline pickup. That led Fleury’s agent, Allan Walsh, to tweet his client had been stabbed in the back. DeBoer answers questions daily about which goalie is going to start. “A luxury to have,” is his usual answer. He’s not wrong.

Dallas: They don’t exactly have great goaltending, but have so far met opponents in the Stanley Cup playoffs who have less of it. Anton Khudbobin was basically one goal better than Calgary’s Cam Talbot in four games, and then he faced a Colorado team that was on to its third stringer, ex-Leaf Michael Hutchinson, by the end of the series.

Fun fact: The Leafs were a go-between in a three-team deadline deal with Chicago and Vegas. For their trouble in picking up half of what remained of Lehner’s salary, the Leafs got a fifth-round pick from the Golden Knights.

Pick

Vegas in seven.