Rick Bowness was on his boat in Florida on Monday when the Columbus Blue Jackets offered him the chance to come out of retirement and coach at age 70. He talked to his wife, Judy, and accepted the job right there on the water.
“We’re happy,” he said with his trademark laugh Tuesday. “We’re relieved. We’re back.”
Naturally, there are many questions: What has changed since he retired as coach of the Winnipeg Jets on May 6, 2024? Does he have the energy to jump back into the NHL? Can he help the Blue Jackets climb back into the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season? What’s the plan after that?
Bowness and general manager Don Waddell addressed it all in a news conference before the Blue Jackets hosted the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena (7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, SNW).
No one has spent more time behind an NHL bench than Bowness has -- 2,726 games as an assistant, associate or head coach. That includes 802 games as a head coach, guiding seven teams to a combined record of 309-408-37 with 48 ties.
After the Jets were eliminated by a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round on April 30, 2024, he told his staff he was done. He announced his retirement days later.
“I knew in my heart it was time,” he said then.
The issue was health. Bowness had missed 11 games after his wife had a seizure and four more due to a minor medical procedure that season.
“Without the health issues, I would have not have stepped down,” he said. “The passion is still there, but we had to overcome some issues, and I’m not going to get into detail about those things. They’ve been addressed over the last year and half. I feel a whole lot better. Judy’s doing great. So, that opened the door again.”
Bowness said he was content in Florida, seeing the kids, working for TNT, but his wife missed the NHL even more than he did.
“She’d always say, ‘Well, what’s going to happen if someone calls?’” he said. “I’d say, ‘They’re not going to call. They’re not going to call.’ And then we just said, ‘OK, well, we’d have to consider it.’”
When Bowness received a text from Waddell on Monday, he thought Waddell wanted to know about a player he had coached that the Blue Jackets might want to acquire. But it wasn’t about that.
Columbus (19-19-7) was last in the Eastern Conference, seven points behind the Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins, who were tied for the second wild card in the East. The Blue Jackets had 12 games before the break for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2006, including eight at home.
Waddell called it a “critical point.” If they were going to replace coach Dean Evason, this was the time. Waddell went way back with Bowness -- often referred to as “Bones” -- and thought he was what the Blue Jackets needed.
“You’re not going to find anybody with as much experience,” he said. “The accountability and structure that he’s going to bring to us is going to be welcomed by our players, and [he’s] a great communicator.”
Bowness said he would have come out of retirement for only a few teams. Columbus was one of them, because he knows Waddell, thinks the team is better than its record and believes he can help.
He said the immediate issues are the goals against, shots against, penalty kill, slot chances against and rush chances against.
“This isn’t the ’80s, man,” said Bowness, who played 173 games in the NHL as a center from 1975-82 and first stepped behind the bench in the League in 1984-85. “You don’t score your way into the playoffs. You defend your ways into the playoffs, and you get your offense from playing good, solid team defense.
“But that’s team defense. That’s everyone committed. So, we’re just going to try to get everyone to buy in a lot more defensively, far more committed. There are some structural changes we can make, absolutely, and we’re going to make them.”
This is about now.
“We’ll finish out this season,” Waddell said. “Him and I will sit down and the end of the season and assess not only the season, but how it went and make decisions moving forward.”
Maybe that will be a positive. Bowness looked back to when he joined the Jets on July 4, 2022, at age 67.
“When I went to Winnipeg, I thought I was retired and done then, and when they called, it was the same scenario,” he said. “They’ve got great ownership, great management. Loved to work with those people, and they’ve got a good team. …
“As I told the players [in Winnipeg], ‘Listen, I’m not looking for a job after this. I’m coming in here and I’m going to do and I’m going to say whatever has to be done. I’m not a 30-year-old coach worrying about my career. I’m at the end of my career, and I know that.’ And it’ll be the same approach here.
“Anybody who’s worrying about next year is taking the wrong approach on this whole thing. All that matters right now is this year. All that matters is this game tonight and what’s going on next. Next year will take care of itself. It will, and I’m not worried about next year one bit, and I came here to come in and get that mentality. We’ve got to get dialed in on today, and then we’ve got to get dialed in on tomorrow.
“I have the energy to do that, and that’s my total focus.”
