Usually, an emotional tirade will not get you places at your day job. But for Rick Bowness, it just got him a one-year contract extension likely in the seven figures.
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced the one-year deal for their head coach Thursday afternoon, two days after their 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in their season finale at Nationwide Arena.
“Rick has done an outstanding job since his arrival and it was obvious to all of us that he is the right person to lead our club as head coach,” Blue Jackets general Manager Don Waddell said in a statement. “Rick developed strong relationships with our players who will continue to benefit greatly from his leadership as we look to learn from the hard lessons of this season and work towards our goal of competing for a Stanley Cup.”
“I have really enjoyed my time with this organization and absolutely love being part of it and working with these players,” Bowness added. “We’re all very disappointed by how our season ended and we have a lot of work to do, but we will do what’s necessary to be the type of team we want to be and that our great fans expect us to be. I’m excited about continuing the work we started here, and I appreciate the confidence in me shown by Don, (CBJ President) Mike Priest and our ownership group led by the McConnell family.”
The 71-year-old bench boss led Columbus to a 21-11-5 record (.635) in 37 games after being hired on January 12 and coming out of retirement to replace Dean Evason. The team shot out of the gates, going 19-3-4 under Bowness and putting themselves into playoff contention, but a 3-9-1 collapse down the stretch completely doomed their year, getting eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers the night before their final game.
The Blue Jackets’ listless performance against the Capitals in Game 82 prompted the head coach to lambaste his team afterward, calling out what he perceived as a pernicious losing culture.
“It’s terrible, inexcusable,” Bowness said. “I don’t know if I’m back, but if I’m back, I’m changing this culture. These guys, they don’t care. Losing is not important enough to them. It doesn’t bother them.”
After news was announced that Bowness was extended, the bench boss was asked about his tirade and if he had any regrets. He did not.
“I’m the coach,” he said. “So when we lose, the first person I look at is me. And I criticize myself. Okay, we lost. We didn’t play well. What didn’t you do? I look at my discussions with the players, the meetings, our prep work and everything. So I go after myself first. And I am the coach who does. It starts with me. And then, of course, you got to hold people accountable. So you got to go after the players.
“Now, after a game like that and the stretch we had, I’m not going to come in here and say, oh, we were close tonight or we battled hard. I’m not going to do that. People aren’t stupid. They’re watching. They see what I see, man. And the players see it, too. They’re honest. They see it. So again, you know me now. Sometimes my passion gets in my way. And it does. And it’s happened before. I’m hoping it won’t happen. But it’s why I’m sitting here is the passion and the love of the game. So that’s who I am. And you know, there’s times it goes overboard. Yeah, I know that. I probably pushed it a little bit far. And I get that. But that’s who I am.”
Bowness has compiled a 331-419-48-42 record (W-L-T-OT) in 840 games as an NHL head coach with the Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, and Boston Bruins, including a 208-130-39 mark in 377 games since 2019.
