Rick Bowness was hired as coach of the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
The 67-year-old replaced Dave Lowry, who was 26-22-6 in 54 games after Paul Maurice resigned Dec. 17.
Bowness began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Jets in 1984-85 and was 8-17-0 with three ties in 28 games as their coach in 1988-89. He spent the past three seasons as Dallas Stars coach after replacing Jim Montgomery on Dec. 10, 2019, going 89-62-25 in the regular season and leading them to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final before losing in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This season, the Stars were 46-30-6 and earned the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, losing in seven games to the Calgary Flames in the first round.
Bowness, who resigned on May 20, said Monday that he turned down three job opportunities that were not a head coaching position.
"We've pushed the players hard all year to get into the playoffs," Bowness said. "This is tough league and tough to get in the playoffs. We had 98 points, we got in and it was a [heck] of a series with Calgary. But there comes a point I think, man, we pushed this team as hard as we can, as far as we can and maybe it needs a new voice. So it came to the point where, did I go in and ask for an extension? No. Do they offer an extension? No. So I think both sides kind of agreed, OK, it's time for a divorce, which, that's the business. No problem with that whatsoever.
"It wasn't going back to coaching for the sake of coaching. I didn't need a job. I don't need a job. I want to have a chance to win, so the opportunity to be a head coach again, yeah, that excited me very much. But again, more importantly, it's working with good people and it's working with a good team, so the other opportunities I turned down."
Scott Arniel was added to Bowness' staff as an associate. The 59-year-old was an assistant for the Washington Capitals the past four seasons and coached the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2010-12, going 45-60-18.
The Jets (39-32-11) missed the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, finishing eight points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card from the West.
"This is a really good hockey club," Bowness said. "And for whatever reason it lost its way last year. When we get it all together, we're going to work very closely with ownership, management and everyone associated with this organization and we're going to get it back on the right track and we're going to get this team back in the playoffs.
"When [the Stars] played them last year, there was something missing, and you could feel it and you could see it. Maybe you can't always describe it, but when you're playing against them and you're on the bench and you just kind of feel it. OK, there's something missing there ... it just kind of got derailed a little bit. But if you go back and you look at the roster and how competitive they were for a while, it's there."
Bowness is 212-351-28 with 48 ties in 639 regular-season games as coach of the Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Jets, and 26-23 in 49 postseason games. He holds the NHL record with 2,562 games as a coach or assistant.
"The exciting part of it is, it's going to be a challenge," Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said. "Anybody who doesn't want to embrace that challenge doesn't want to be a coach. Those are the words that came out of Rick's mouth when we talked about it and kept on having the multiple different conversations that we had over the period of time. They want to get in the room, they want to get on the ice, they want to start talking hockey. We had dinner last night with Scott Arniel and 'Bones' and it just felt like we're in training camp again already. There's that vibe, there's that energy, there's that easiness of communication between each other that just makes it exciting. You look for something to grasp onto and there's experience that Rick brings to the table. That's a real excitement for me."
Bowness is the ninth coach to be hired since the conclusion of the regular season: Lane Lambert by the Islanders on May 16, Bruce Cassidy by the Vegas Golden Knights on June 17, John Tortorella by the Philadelphia Flyers on June 17, Peter DeBoer by the Stars on June 21, Maurice by the Florida Panthers on June 22, Luke Richardson by the Chicago Blackhawks on June 27, Derek Lalonde by the Detroit Red Wings on June 30, and Montgomery by the Bruins on July 1.
The San Jose Sharks are the only team without a coach after firing Bob Boughner on July 1.
Photo courtesy: Katie MacLeod/Winnipeg Jets
