An intensive look for for a new leader, one stuffed with plenty of plot twists, is lastly in excess of for the Winnipeg Jets. Rick Bowness signed his deal on Sunday to become the new head mentor of the hockey club.
It is a homecoming of sorts for the 67-calendar year-aged from New Brunswick, who finished his NHL participating in occupation in 1981 with the Jets 1., obtained his initial coaching assignment the pursuing calendar year with their AHL group in Quebec, then received promoted back to the large leagues with Winnipeg initially as an assistant (1984-87) and briefly as interim bench manager in 1989.
“I’m enormously fired up to be returning to Winnipeg,” Bowness reported in a press release. “We have an awesome team of gifted younger players with the Jets. So now my emphasis quickly turns to what it will consider to get back again into the Stanley Cup playoffs.”
Bowness will meet up with with the media on Monday early morning at Canada Everyday living Centre, along with common manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.
“Rick delivers a wealth of working experience and awareness, the two in the NHL coaching ranks and as a player and mentor in the town of Winnipeg,” Cheveldayoff mentioned in a statement. “Rick is a wonderful hockey intellect and an even far better human being and we’re assured he will guide this staff to new heights.”
Bowness was not the team’s initially decision. They went all-in on free of charge agent Barry Trotz, but the Manitoba products in the end turned them down and has opted to take at minimum a yr absent from the recreation to concentration on family.
Bowness, who stepped down in May right after a few seasons of coaching Dallas, was originally considered as a probable assistant to Trotz if he’d appear on board. The moment that grew to become extremely hard, the Jets turned to “Prepare B” and experienced a quick listing of candidates that incorporated Rick Tocchet, Pascal Vincent, Scott Arniel and Jeff Blashill.
The Jets didn’t release any facts Sunday on the size of Bowness’ offer. The relaxation of his staff will have to be crammed out this summertime, and there’s a robust possibility Arniel will be section of it.
Bowness normally takes over from interim mentor Dave Lowry, who replaced longtime leader Paul Maurice soon after he abruptly resigned in mid-December. The Jets are coming off a disappointing 12 months in which they skipped the playoffs for the seventh time given that the NHL returned to Winnipeg 11 decades back.
Cheveldayoff was not too long ago given a three-calendar year deal extension by Real North. Bowness is formally the third full-time head coach in Jets 2. historical past, next Maurice and Claude Noel.
Bowness’ career head coaching report is just 211-351-76 with nary a championship ring. These numbers are skewed by 4 seasons at the helm of the lowly Ottawa Senators, setting up with their entry into the NHL in 1992. There wasn’t a lot to perform with there. Similar with the New York Islanders in the late 1990s and a transient interim stint in Phoenix in 2002-03.
Bowness’ latest get the job done is much more encouraging, with a file of 89-62-25 with the Stars about the past three a long time. He took above in the course of the 2019-20 period just after Jim Montgomery was fired for “unprofessional conduct,” and led Dallas to the Stanley Cup Remaining inside the Edmonton bubble, ultimately slipping to Tampa Bay (exactly where he’d used the past five years as the right-hand person to Jon Cooper). Dallas just skipped the playoffs all through the truncated 2021 marketing campaign, and created it as a wildcard this past yr but have been overwhelmed by Calgary in a difficult-fought 7 video game initially round sequence.
He’s acknowledged as a robust communicator who places a main aim on tidy enjoy in the defensive zone, which is an place Winnipeg has been sorely lacking in for some time.
This is just the begin of an particularly active stretch for the Jets. The NHL entry draft goes Thursday and Friday in Montreal, and Winnipeg will have 7 picks which include two in the initial spherical. Totally free agency starts on July 13, and the club has many selections to make on critical gamers who could be on the shift together with captain Blake Wheeler and major centres Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The 2022-23 period is set to commence Oct. 11.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg
