Blue Jackets gaining belief in the Bowness era

When Rick Bowness took over as head coach of the Blue Jackets, one of the key factors why he came out of retirement and accepted the team's offer was he thought he could win hockey games and do it quickly.

Columbus needed to vault up the standings to get back in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but when Bowness looked at the roster and reflected on what he had watched on the ice this year, he saw the bones – no pun intended – of a team that had potential.

“I look at that team and I said, ‘I think I can help that team. They’re better than their record looks,’” Bowness said at his introductory press conference. “I did feel like Columbus is one of the teams I honestly feel I could help, so I'm here.”

Six games in, he’s been proven right. The Blue Jackets have won five of those contests since Bowness took over, and the early days of his tenure have been marked by a few changes to the team’s philosophy. He’s preached playing a pressure game and being more defensively responsible, and the Blue Jackets have responded by allowing just eight 5-on-5 goals in the last six games while being harder to play against.

But perhaps the biggest adjustment has come between the ears – or at least on their torsos. A new shirt with the words “Raise the bar, Expect to win” has been delivered to players, and it’s that last part in particular that Bowness has wanted to instill in his new squad.

“You better walk into the rink expecting to win,” Bowness said. “That’s the only way to do it, man. You don’t walk in with having so much respect for the opposition, you don’t play your game. To hell with that. You walk in, you have swagger, you have confidence in your team and the way you play.”

The Blue Jackets still have work to do to make it where they want to go in the standings, as they sit eight points behind the final wild card spot and six behind the Islanders for third in the division, but that confident mind-set seems to have them on the right track. As evidence, the team’s last three wins – at Pittsburgh and at home vs. Dallas and Tampa Bay – came against teams that are currently in the top 10 in the NHL in points percentage.

In the Blue Jackets dressing room, the belief never seemed to waver, but hearing someone come from the outside to deliver the message seems to have had an impact.

“First and foremost, we believe that with this group,” Mathieu Olivier said. “We still believed it when Dean (Evason) was coach, but you have another coach come in, he becomes part of the family, right, and kind of leads our way and says the same things (we believe). It just validates what we thought originally.

“We knew we were a better team than our record. For some reason, we couldn’t get it together, but we’re in a little bit of a good run here. Overall, we’re getting the results, but the way we’re playing is a lot more suited to what we should be doing out there.”

In fact, Bowness has delivered the message not just in the press – where he’s spoken a number of times about how much he believes in the quality of his squad – but in the dressing room.

“If I’m coming back, I wanted a chance to win,” he said in his first meeting with the squad Jan. 13, as detailed in Behind The Battle presented by PNC Bank. “I’ve watched your games enough this year, and I believe in you guys.”

To say that message has been received would appear to be an understatement.

“To have a new voice come in and say that and give reminders, sometimes when you’re in it, it’s like you get too in-tune to just being here that you kind of forget,” veteran Charlie Coyle said. “You get an outside perspective (that says), ‘I’ve watched it. I’ve seen it. Now I’m in here, and it’s here.’ Just for another voice to come in and say that and give us some confidence and up that belief factor, that’s huge. Then we play a little better and we win a few games, and then that belief grows.”

But perhaps the most illuminating comment on the matter came after the first loss of the Bowness era last Tuesday vs. Ottawa. Even after the lone setback thus far in his tenure, the head coach still wanted to make clear he believed in his team – with the caveat that perhaps the biggest step to come was to keep instilling that in his squad.

“It’s a good group, it’s a good team,” Bowness said. “I still don’t believe they know how good they could be, right? And you become good when you put some bite, you put some nastiness in your game, and when the puck drops, you’re ready to go. So we’ll develop that.”