*Photo from TSN*
There's a coaching veteran returning to the north. The Winnipeg Jets have hired Rick Bowness as their next head coach, according to an announcement made by the team on Sunday, officially confirming the deal.
The hiring of Bowness marks the second time that he will be coaching the Jets, as he served as the head coach of the original Jets before they were relocated to Arizona to become the Coyotes. Bowness has a two year contract to coach the Jets.
Bowness said that "I'm tremendously excited to be returning to Winnipeg. I'm appreciative of this chance presented to me by Kevin Cheveldayoff, Mark Chipman and the ownership group. We have an exciting group of talented young players with the Jets. So now my focus immediately turns to what it will take to get back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs."
Most recently, Bowness served as the head coach of the Dallas Stars, taking over in the midst of the 2019-2020 season after Jim Montgomery was fired. He led them to the Stanley Cup Finals in the playoff bubble, and the Stars won a wild card spot in the western conference this season, losing in the first round to the Calgary Flames. Bowness guided the Stars to a 89-62-25 record in his tenure.
Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said that "We're very excited to hire Rick Bowness as the third head coach of Jets 2.0. Rick brings a wealth of experience and knowledge, both in the NHL coaching ranks and as a player and coach in the city of Winnipeg. Rick is a fantastic hockey mind and an even better person and we're confident he will lead this team to new heights."
Bowness comes to Winnipeg after interim head coach Dave Lowry was not brought back. Lowry took over for Paul Maurice, who resigned shortly into the season, with Lowry guiding the Jets to a 26-22-6 record in 54 games, with the Jets failing to make the playoffs.
In his coaching career, Bowness has a 212-351-28 record, notching 48 ties in 639 regular season games, serving as head coach of the Stars, Jets, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes, Ottawa Senators, and New York Islanders. Bowness has a 26-23 record in the playoffs, and has served as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks.
The hiring of Bowness marks the 9th NHL team to hire a head coach this offseason. Bowness joins Montgomery, Maurice, Bruce Cassidy, Pete Deboer, Lane Lambert, John Tortorella, Luke Richardson, and Derek Lalonde as new hire head coaches this offseason.
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