Stars HC Rick Bowness Leaves Game vs. Hurricanes Due to COVID-19 Protocols

Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness left Sunday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second intermission and did not return due to COVID protocols.

Stars assistant head coach John Stevens replaced Bowness as the temporary head coach for the third period.

According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the 66-year-old Bowness has been fully vaccinated, which makes Sunday's events even more curious. However, Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle received a false positive on a test earlier this week after being vaccinated months ago.

Time will tell whether this is another case of a Dallas coach being hit with a false-positive but the NHL clearly acted on the side of caution by removing Bowness from Sunday's game. If it's not a case of a false-positive, well...that makes for a much more concerning discussion. 스포츠토토

The NHL continues to battle COVID outbreaks across the league this season. The Stars were the first team forced to postpone games this season, as their season opener was delayed by a few weeks after a team outbreak. The Vancouver Canucks are currently dealing with a massive team outbreak, with as many as 16 players currently on the team's COVID list. All Vancouver games have been postponed through April 6.