WINNIPEG -- Rick Bowness returned to the bench for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.
The Jets coach traveled back to Winnipeg from New York on March 19 to receive treatment for what the team called "a minor medical procedure" and missed the final four games of a five-game road trip. Winnipeg (44-22-6) lost the last three under associate Scott Arniel, during which it was outscored 13-4.
“Just the body reminding me I'm 69 and not 39,” Bowness said following the morning skate Tuesday. “Feeling much better, thank you. We had to deal with a couple of things.
“It's difficult. I hate sitting there watching. You're not in the fight with them. That's what we all sign up for -- to be in the fight. And when you see your team not playing as well as you know it's capable of, it's frustrating.”
His players are elated to have their coach back in the fold.
“It’s huge. He’s our head coach,” Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “Our coaching staff and the whole organization have been really great this year with certain situations that we’ve had to overcome. Everybody has just tried to dig in and do our best. You want everyone together.
“We come back, and we’ve got (forward) Gabe (Vilardi) out here skating again today and it lifts your mood a little bit, seeing these guys come back. It’s exciting.”
The Jets won their first game without Bowness, 4-2 at the New York Rangers on March 19, but losses at the New Jersey Devils (4-1), New York Islanders (6-3) and Washington Capitals (3-0) followed. They have fallen to third in the Central Division, three points behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars with 10 regular-season games remaining after the overtime loss to the Oilers. Winnipeg is four points ahead of the Nashville Predators, who hold the first wild into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
“You see how we were Tuesday in New York, and then how in New Jersey, like, where did it go?” Bowness said, laughing. “That's what gets frustrating, when you know you're watching a team. Tuesday, I'm watching with [my wife] Judy and it's like, ‘Geez, we've got a good team here.’ And then you say, where did it go? So, yeah, that's frustrating.
“We had a good talk with the group this morning. It's not fair to me to go in there this morning and make all these negative comments and accusations. I'm not in the fight with them for those four games, so I gave them some observations. Sitting back in my chair watching the game in Winnipeg, this is what I saw. So, we talk about those things, and it's all tied into our overall team play for the last little while hasn't been up to snuff on a consistent basis, so we've been dealing with that.”
Bowness previously was away from the team for 13 games from Oct. 23-Nov. 24 to care for his wife after she had a seizure Oct. 22.
This is Bowness' second season as Jets coach after he spent the previous four with the Stars, first as an associate and then as coach. He's 90-55-9 with Winnipeg.
Bowness has coached 792 NHL games during 14 seasons, going 301-406-37 with 48 ties. His coaching career began as a Jets assistant in 1983, and he's worked more games behind an NHL bench as a coach or assistant than anyone in League history.
