‘It’s my life’: Rick Bowness, 71, returning behind Blue Jackets’ bench

After 44 years and close to 3,000 games behind an NHL bench, Rick Bowness still loves the game.

And even a day after his team’s season came to a disappointing end, Bowness said he views every day spent in the NHL as a blessing.

“It’s my life,” the 71-year-old coach said in an interview. “It’s not just about what I do, but who I am.”

Bowness has signed on for another season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, three months after coming out of retirement to become the NHL’s oldest head coach.

He took over behind the Columbus bench on Jan. 12 with the team mired in last place in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets went 19-3-4 in their next 26 games and climbed as high as second in the Metropolitan Division before stumbling down the stretch, going 2-8-1 to miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year.

From the boat to the bench

Born in Moncton, N.B., and raised in the Fairview neighbourhood of Halifax, N.S., Bowness played 173 career NHL games and began his NHL coaching career as an assistant with the Winnipeg Jets in 1984-85.

When he retired for personal reasons on May 6, 2024, after two seasons as the Jets’ head coach, his 2,726 games as an NHL head coach or assistant coach were the most by anyone in league history.

Bowness said he spent his 621 days of retirement between Florida in the winter and Grand Lake, N.S., in the summer, cruising around with his wife, Judy, on their boat, only watching games on television and even declining an opportunity to return to the NHL in 2025.

But by the time Blue Jackets’ general manager Don Waddell called him in January, he was looking to make his return and wasn’t certain he’d receive another call from an NHL team.

He said he had a “very short and quick�” conversation with Judy, who had suffered a stroke during the final months of his tenure with the Jets but was feeling “100 per cent better” and was just as ready for a return as he was.

“She couldn’t wait to get here,” Bowness said. “She loves the games.”

The longtime coach said part of what he missed most during his retirement was his relationship with the players.

But while the Blue Jackets went on a hot streak after his arrival, their late-season slump was a disappointment and Bowness let his players know it at the news conference after their season-ending loss to the Washington Capitals, vowing to change the culture if he returned.

“These guys, they don’t care. Losing is not important enough to them. It doesn’t bother them. How can you go out and play like that?” Bowness said at the news conference. “This is why we’re out of the playoffs. That kind of effort. You have to hate losing. I don’t care if it’s a meaningless game. I don’t care. Show up and compete.”

A day after his harsh comments, he said the team had some young players who hadn’t experienced an NHL playoff push before.

“It’s a learning curve for them and hopefully that’ll make us stronger for next year,” Bowness said.

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