Rick Bowness, Head Coach
Rick Bowness was named head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 12, 2026, bringing over four decades of National Hockey League coaching experience to the club. Most recently, he served as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets from 2022-24, leading the club to a 98-57-9 record (.625 pct.) in 164 games and back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He spent the previous two-plus seasons with the Dallas Stars, compiling a 89-62-25 mark (.577 pct.) in 176 games from 2019-22. After being named interim head coach in December 2019, he led the club to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost a six-game series to the Tampa Bay Lightning. In his final season in Dallas, he led the Stars to a 46-30-6 mark in 2021-22.
A native of Moncton, New Brunswick, Bowness has compiled a 310-408-48-37 record (W-L-T-OT) in 803 games as an NHL head coach or interim head coach with the Jets, Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins, including a 187-119-0-34 mark in 340 games between 2019-24. He began his coaching career as a player-coach of the American Hockey League’s Sherbrooke Jets in 1982-83 before joining Winnipeg as an assistant coach from 1984-87. He served as the head coach of the AHL’s Moncton Hawks from 1987-91 and had a 28-game stint as Winnipeg’s interim head coach during the 1988-89 campaign.
He spent the 1991-92 season as head coach of the Bruins, guiding the club to a 36-32-12 record and playoff berth before being named head coach of the expansion Senators in 1992. He led the club for three-plus seasons before joining the Islanders as associate coach in 1996. He was named head coach during that campaign and remained in the position through the 1997-98 season. He then spent six years with the Coyotes from 1999-06, including a stint as interim head coach in 2003-04. Over the next 15 seasons, he served on the coaching staffs of the Vancouver Canucks (2006-13), Lightning (2013-18) and Stars (2018-19).
Bowness, a forward, was selected by the Atlanta Flames in the second round, 26th overall, of the 1975 NHL Draft. He played professionally for nine seasons from 1975-84 and collected 18 goals and 37 assists for 55 points with 191 penalty minutes in 173 career NHL games with the Flames, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Jets between 1975-81. His son, Ryan, was selected by the Blue Jackets in the eighth round, 236th overall, at the 2001 NHL Draft and is currently the assistant general manager and director of player development for the New York Islanders.