Life comes at you fast. One moment, you could be on a boat enjoying time with your family. The next, you could be packing your bags and heading to a brand new city.
That’s exactly what happened to Blue Jackets’ head coach Rick Bowness. Bowness and his wife Judy were on their boat when his phone rang. It was about 10:45 A.M. on Monday Jan 12. GM Don Waddell asked a simple question.
“How would you like to coach our team,” Waddell asked?
It took just a few minutes. Bowness said yes. The domino effect began. Head coach Dean Evason and assistant coach Steve McCarthy were fired. Bowness was announced as the new head coach around 4:30 P.M. on that Monday.
The Blue Jackets have gone 4-1-0 in the five games since Bowness took over for Evason. They’ve allowed just 11 goals in those games. They’re going to put that on the line against the Tampa Bay Lightning and their 15-game point streak.
For Bowness, he’s right back where he belongs. He’s behind an NHL bench doing what he loves to do. And at least so far, he’s having a lot of fun doing it.
Bowness Having Fun
One look at Bowness says it all. He is in his element. He’s trying to help the Blue Jackets back into the playoff race while trying to make them better in all facets of their game.
“Loving it. Loving it,” Bowness said of being a head coach again. “Honestly, that was about a year and a half and it doesn’t feel like I left.”
He can even still crack the jokes too.
“You guys were all probably glad I was gone,” Bowness quipped. “But no, it doesn’t feel like I’ve left anything. I just love being behind the bench. I just love that. That just calms everything down for me. It gets me. It’s not what I do. It’s who I am. And I love being back behind the bench. I just love being in the locker room with the guys. That’s what drives me everyday. I love it.”
The Blue Jackets were in Pittsburgh last Saturday in what was Bowness’ third game with the team. After securing a 4-3 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team improved to 3-0 since the coaching change. The vibes around the team were different despite it being a short period of time.
A Special Guest
Bowness’ presence injected some much-needed new energy throughout the Blue Jackets. His approach and longevity in the league has the respect of everyone. A particular postgame moment in Pittsburgh put that into perspective.
As the media were waiting for Bowness to come out, there was a special visitor waiting to see him. It was none other than Sidney Crosby. The two of them go way back to when Crosby was in elementary school. They shared a few words before Bowness took his spot in front of the cameras to talk about his team’s latest win.
Bowness is trying to bring many things to the Blue Jackets. One of those things is respect. Crosby taking time to welcome coach back was a moment that fans didn’t get to see. But it puts into perspective just how beloved Bones is.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the opportunity to coach the Blue Jackets, Bowness was set to have dinner with Crosby’s parents in Florida.
“I’ve known Sid for a while,” Bowness said. “I was supposed to be having dinner with his parents in Fort Lauderdale, right? I’d rather be here. Sid and I, we talk a lot. He’s at the far end of the league. One thing about Sid, man. He loves talking hockey. So I’ll take the boat up every once in a while and he’ll come down and we’ll sit on my boat and we’ll talk hockey. He’s tremendous. He respects the tradition of the game. You can talk to a lot of younger players about Guy LaFleur. A lot of the guys don’t know who (he is.) Sid knows every great player. He knows every great team. And that’s why I love talking hockey with him. He and I have always had a good rapport.”
It’s the vast knowledge and experience that Bowness brings that sets him apart. One moment, he’s able to relate to one of the game’s greatest players ever. The next, he’s helping the Blue Jackets fix their defensive issues. And in between, he has an ability to relate to players while getting the best out of them.
Look no further for a recent example of that than Dallas Stars’ captain Jamie Benn.
Bowness Impacted the Stars
Benn and the Stars were in Columbus on Thursday night. The relationship between Bowness and Benn is well documented. It had many ups and downs. But today, there’s nothing but respect.
“Special person, special man,” Benn said of Bowness. “Happy to see him back in the league. If there’s anybody that loves hockey, it’s Rick Bowness. He’s been around for a long time and I’m not surprised that he’s back. Bowness is somebody you want to play hard for and win for. He’s just a great human being.”
Benn, Bowness and the Stars spent a significant amount of time in the bubble together. All told, it was 65 days. Although they had their ups and downs during the grind of that playoff run, Benn looks back at that time fondly. Was there any advice that stood out to Benn?
“There’s many things,” Benn said. “I think a lot of his messages are if you play the right way and do the right things out there, the game will treat you well. There’s no shortcuts in this league. You gotta do it the hard way. And the hard way is the best way. I think we all want to win. In the end, doing it the right way is the best.”
Bowness was able to eventually get the best out of Benn also. How was he able to do that?
“He just told me to be myself,” Benn said. “He believed in me and I believed in what he was throwing down for us for game plans and his strategy. I just try to be myself, play the right way and lead by example that way.”
Radek Faksa, who played under Bowness in Dallas, recalled the Stars’ room being emotional when he came on board. What stood out to him most?
“Experience. Great coach. Great human being,” Faksa said. “He took over during the season so it was a lot of emotions going on in the dressing room. He brought the calmness to the dressing room. Everyone was calm and I got just good memories going all the way back to the Stanley Cup Final.”
“I feel like he kept pushing. It doesn’t matter if it was practice or gameday. He just wanted us to do things right like hard word (and) just the simple stuff. He always tried to get the best out of us.”
Faksa said the best piece of advice he got from Bowness was “treat people the right way, all your teammates and all people around.” Coaching longevity in any sport is very hard to achieve. That’s what makes what Bowness has done and continues to do today all the more impressive.
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While Bowness certainly will brings systems and principles to the teams he coaches, he brings something much more important. That’s genuine caring and respect of everyone he encounters no matter who they are.
Being around the Blue Jackets since the coaching change has felt night and day. Now, the tone of voice is more positive. There’s more positive energy going around the locker room. The room isn’t as heavy as it was. Whether that’s enough for the Blue Jackets to make the playoffs this season remains to be seen.
This is the Bowness effect. He’s back right where he belongs behind an NHL bench. He’s doing what he loves and is having so much fun right now. He is a true breath of fresh air the Blue Jackets desperately needed at a low point in their season.
