[Dreger] Coaching news out of Winnipeg this morning. It’s expected @NHLJets Head Coach Rick Bowness will announce his retirement today. Bowness has coached over 2600 games in the NHL and is a Jack Adams Award finalist for the first time. Great man. Great career.
by spleenmaster1002
33 Comments
Happy for him, despite his questionable decisions in the playoffs he was a great coach for us for 2 seasons. Really happy for him, hope he enjoys retirement
Who’s gonna succeed him?
He fixed a lot that was wrong with this team since last season. Hoping we find someone to build on that success.
Please bring in berube or brindamour 😭😭😭
I’m not surprised. When his wife had those health issues I kinda figured he would call it quits end of then season.
And that’s how you gracefully end a career.
Now management needs to grow a backbone and get rid of Lauer. That stat where every team to advance from the first round by having a competent special teams is just twisting the knife in the wound still.
I mean, we gotta wait for Brindamour to make a decision right?
Well overall good news. It was time.
I will always sincerely appreciate Bones effort to teach our Jets effective defense (during the season at least) and name Lowry captain.
I think he also has to fix a lot of behind the scenes stuff once Maurice suddenly left.
So I wish him the very best and appreciate the areas he improved.
As a side note, I would like to see the Jets hire a relatively under the radar young coach. This has been effective in other pro sports.
Thanks for everything Bones! He was a huge part in turning this team’s culture around. Too bad we couldn’t get him a cup. Hope he’s still involved in hockey in some capacity. Enjoy retirement!
An incredible career in hockey most could only dream of.
Not excited about Arniel however.
Congrats on the retirement Bones!
(I still can’t help but laugh at the fact that the Jets still haven’t fired a coach since Claude Noel)
Happy for Bones. Even though we didn’t have a lot to show for it, he did a great job righting the ship. Definitely had some questionable decisions but you could tell from the exit interviews (this year and last) he really cared about this team even with his short tenure as HC. Hope he nabs that Jack Adams on his way out.
Happy retirement, Bones! Thank you for your time and efforts with the Jets!
When we hired Bowness, like most I was not too pleased. Boy did he ever exceed expectations and help set us back on the right path at a time when we were quickly self destructing.
Finished as a Jack Adams finalist and All-Star. Well done Bones.
He drove me crazy in the back half of this year but Bones did a LOT of good for this team.
Unlocking Morrissey into a perennial Norris contender was and will continue to be insanely huge for us
We can talk about what happened in the playoffs this year and lineup decisions, but Bones completely changed the culture of the Jets, unlocked JoMo’s potential and reopened the contention window. Thankful for everything he’s done and wish Rick a happy retirement.
I was wrong! I apologize!
Great news for Bowness. He’s earned a long and happy retirement.
I thought he was hired as a placeholder when Trotz fell through. Despite being a fan of Rick Bowness since his playing days, I didn’t like the move.
I was very wrong. He came in and cleaned house bringing cohesiveness to a fractured dressing room. In a season that I’d written off at the beginning, he and Chevy iced one of the most entertaining teams I’ve seen in a long time.
Thanks Coach – the memories will last for a long time.
Take care Mr Bowness you’re a gem
Alot of respect for Bones, really enjoyed his time here and he 100% accomplished his #1 goal of rebuilding the culture for the Jets.
Now then…hire Craig Berube
See you buddy, however we need an overhaul of all coaching staff
We should be grateful that Bowness fixed this team. The players have the culture and the commitment now. The coaching staff failed to adapt in the playoffs, failed to respond where Colorado’s coaches did, but it doesn’t mean that Bowness and Co. didn’t help this team. No one would have put us with as many points as we got at the start of the season.
Happy retirement, Rick!
Big news for the Jets.
Great news. Enjoy retirement Bones.
I will miss what he has done for this team, positive vibes. Hopefully they will all learn and take what he has taught them and get better.
Go Jets Go
Godspeed Bones. 💌
Best overall team of Jets 2.0… for the regular season
Hopefully, the corrections that he made can help carry the team forward
I hope that he and his wife enjoy a long healthy retirement
Jets haven’t fired a coach since Noël in 2014.
Congratulations to a good man on a great career. I appreciate the steps Bones took to fix the locker room issues as well as improving overall team defence. No matter what limitations he had, to spend almost 50 years in the best hockey league in the world is beyond impressive. I hope he enjoys his retirement with family and golfing.
Thanks Bones. Hope you and Judy enjoy a long, healthy and happy retirement. What you did took a lot of work and will forever make the players involved better for the experience. You proved that the current roster can compete but you also exposed that these same players have a ways to go to play sound and elevated playoff hockey. It wasn’t your coaching as much as the team missing playoff experience or forgetting what it took to win in the playoffs and missing key players particularly on the back end that would have gave us a chance to go on a run this playoff. Good luck with the Jack Adams. Go figure we get the coach of the year only to lose him the same year.
A good coach, just stuck in his ways and unwilling to adapt to new technology and techniques.
Happy long and healthy retirement to Rick and Judy.
Dam pretty cool he started his Head coaching career as Jet and now ends it as one!