At Bowness, Jet will gain lifelong experience, a coach who can instill a healthy defense structure
Winnipeg — He is a survivor of hockey and has seen and accomplished essentially everything except imprinting his name on the Stanley Cup.
Rick Bowness has played a variety of roles after completing his nine-year professional career. No one is behind the bench (as a head coach or assistant) in a regular season match than he is. ..
There was a widely believed belief that Bowness might be ready to retire, but he dismissed the theory after resigning from the Dallas Stars head coach last month.
And after a thorough head coach investigation that began with Barry Trotz’s pursuit, Winnipeg Jets will officially announce Bowness as the fourth head coach in the history of the 2.0 franchise at some point this weekend. It’s a schedule.
In a telephone interview on Friday, Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nil said, “I never meet a better person on ice or on ice. He’s just a great person, he does everything right, he’s a top-notch individual. “. afternoon. “He gives the team everything he has. It’s all about the team and he has done a great job for us.”
Other finalists for the Jets head coach work are former Detroit Red Wings bench boss Jeff Blashill, Columbus Blue Jackets associate coach Pascal Vincent, TNT analyst Rick Tochett, and Washington Capitals assistant coach Scott. It was Arniel.
Jets chose not to drop the interim tag from Dave Lowry’s title, and he went to assistant coach Charlie at the end of the season (after taking over Paul Maurice on December 17th, going 26-22-6). -Dismissed with Hadi and Jamie Compon.
Goalkeeper coach Wade Flaherty will remain on Jets’ staff to conclude in the coming days and weeks.
Jets was one of the first teams to have vacant seats in the head coach position, but they were the eleventh team to fill the job.
In choosing Bowness, Jets relies on his vast experience and hopes he will agree on his defensive commitment.
“I will say passion and energy. He has been with some good teams and has been running for a long time and knows how difficult it is, so he enjoys coming to the link to everyone. He wants to come to Link knowing that everyone has a job. That’s his personality, “said John Stevens, assistant coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. .. “He’s the oldest guy in the league, but I don’t know from the excitement he brings to the skating rink. It’s no surprise he still wants to do it at his age (67).
“We are in a demanding, stressful and promising business, but Bones understands it very well and knows what the players are looking for and what they want. We are working hard to build a relationship of mutual respect. They have to go through to compete as athletes. He has been in the game for a long time, playing the game and I know that. He has a good job of communicating with the players and letting them know where they are standing. “
Arniel is a candidate to join Jets’ coaching staff as an Associate Coach, while former Manitoba Moose captain and former Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner run the defense after recently serving as Claude’s assistant coach. It’s one of the possibilities. Team Canada and Julian at the 2022 IIHF World Men’s Hockey Championship.
Bowness has strong ties to the 1.0 version of Jets, who has served as a player, assistant coach, and head coach for the organization.
He also made a good start in his coaching career as a player / coach at the American Hockey League’s Sherbrooke Jet in the 1982-83 season.
Bownes spent part of the last three seasons as the head coach of the Stars, leading the team to a record of 89-62-25 (.579 wins), leading to the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals and losing to Tampa. Bay Lightning.
During his time at Stars, Bowness was known for his ability to instill healthy defense structures and was instrumental in training several young blue liners, including Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell and John Klingberg.
Its ability to connect with veterans and young players can be essential to this job with Jets. Jets needs to find space for Ville Heinola in the Defense Corps, which should also include Dylan Samberg as a regular next season.
“It was his niche when we brought him. We knew he was a young defensive and great. I saw it in Tampa Bay and the other teams he was with. There is, “Nil said. “When we hired him as an assistant, that was his real strength and he continued it as a head coach. It’s about how he treats people. He’s them. Has a great way to connect with and has a great feel on that part of the game.
“He treats people fairly. He will be strict with them, but fair. They intend to respect him and that’s the way it must be. He’s a head coach and how many You’ll have to make that difficult decision, but they will respect the decision he made. He’s doing it well. “
Dallas captain Jamie Benn and center Tyler Seguin played a more complementary role after Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz appeared and veteran forward Joe Pavelski arrived at the top line. , Bowness also oversaw the transition of the core group.
Depending on how things evolve during the off-season, jet planes can do something similar in the not too distant future.
The ability to integrate young people while gaining contributions from lineup veterans is another strength of Bowness.
“It’s just an art of coaching, when you push a guy a little more or give him time to pull back freedom and reins, especially when you feel some of the young guys,” said Derek Laxdal. He has spent the last three seasons with Bowness on Stars staff and could be a candidate to join Jets and perform power play. “The idea of building those relationships with older people and gaining their trust from within the group is the art of building a hockey club and building the culture you want.”
Bowness was Jets’ assistant coach from 1984 to 1985 when Nil was traded to Winnipeg by the Boston Bruins and expressing his love for the game was not a new development.
“It was obvious at the time,” Nil said. “He was there to support the players, but he also wanted you to be better and hold you accountable for it. He always had a passion. I see. He was passionate as a player and as a coach, and that never changed.
“He is very bright. He comes to the skating rink with a smile.”
Bowness was an assistant coach for Stars for part of the two seasons after Jim Montgomery was dismissed for non-professional activity in December 2019 and before taking over provisionally.
The interim tag was removed after Bowness led the star to the Stanley Cup finals during the bubble playoffs.
They missed four points in the playoffs in 2020-21, finishing fourth in the Central Division this past season, winning their first wildcard, and then heading in the first round of the playoffs to Calgary Flames in seven games. Was lowered. From goalkeeper Jake Ottiger.
“He did a great job for us,” Nil said. “He fell into the situation of being an assistant coach working in defense. He took us to the Stanley Cup Finals and had two more really good seasons with us under many disadvantages. spent.”
Bowness also head coached the Extended Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, and was an assistant or associate to Phoenix Canucks (an additional 20 games as interim head coach), Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning. .. — Includes 5 seasons for Jon Cooper staff.
“He has traded with players in different timeframes and has traded with all types of players,” says Laxdal. “Even players of the new era have really adapted themselves to be able to communicate and build relationships with them.
“Going back to the old saying. Players don’t care how much you know until you know how much you care. (Bowness) exemplifies that phrase and is the best from the player. He pays dividends for his ability to perform at a level and bring teams together at special times. “
Jet missed the playoffs with a record of 39-32-11 and is about to enter a season that didn’t live up to expectations. This put him 6th in the Central Division and 11th at the Western Conference with 89 points.
With the names of some core pieces swirling in trade rumors, there was a lot of speculation about the direction the jet would go with respect to personnel.
With the 2022 NHL draft imminent, Jets has picked Finnish winger Patrik Laine in second place overall and defenseman Logan Stanley in 18th place for the first time since 2016. Focus on round selection. Choose.
However, due to the imminent free agency, especially Jets has a surplus defense that is not exempt, some deals could be made during the next week (Heinola and fellow prospects mentioned above). Declan is not included) Chisam).
Bowness is expected to meet the media on Monday and can be confident that his calling card enthusiasm is ready to attack this latest challenge.
Stars were known as a rigorous check team that didn’t score much, but if Bowness could give Jet a little more offensive weapons and improve his defensive commitment level to Jet. If so, this union has the potential to succeed.
The misnomer about Bowness’s style is that he is simply a defense-first man who doesn’t care about the offensive side of the game. It couldn’t be far from the truth.
“One of the things Rick has a really good feeling about … and I don’t call it a defensive game … I call it a check game,” Laxdal said. “And check with your feet. His philosophy of the game starts with the check part of the game, moves up (pack) and checks the sticks in all three zones. It’s the defender of the game. It is tied to the whole.
“He’s teaching it, he believes it, and then you’re not sitting and defending, you get the chance to get the pack back, and you continue to attack Have the freedom and creativity to do. That’s an important part. When you have a hard time scoring a goal, it’s more important to learn how to check. When he comes to Winnipeg, he has more firepower. Will handle more aggressive weapons. Both sides will fit perfectly. “
At Bowness, Jet will gain lifelong experience, a coach who can instill a healthy defense structure
Source link At Bowness, Jet will gain lifelong experience, a coach who can instill a healthy defense structure
