'I would have done the same thing:' Bowness OK with being Jets' second choice
Rick Bowness doesn't mind being the second choice.
The new Winnipeg Jets head coach took part in his first press conference Monday, a little more than a week after first target Barry Trotz declined the team's offer because the veteran wanted to spend more time with his family.
"If I'm in his chair, I'm going after Trotzy. I am. It's that simple," Bowness said with a laugh, referring to Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff sitting beside him.
"Trotzy is the perfect guy for this, I get that. With his resume, I would have done the same thing Chevy did. I got a nice text from Trotzy a couple days ago. It didn't work out and that's fine. So do I feel bad about second choice? Absolutely not. I would have done the same thing. He would have been my first choice."
Cheveldayoff said his pivot to Bowness was made quickly.
"Barry made the decision to take care of his family, which is an admirable one," Cheveldayoff said. "When that decision became apparent, I immediately turned my attention over to reaching out to Rick and seeing if there was some synergy there and some opportunity."
Bowness stepped down as head coach of the Dallas Stars after the season. He guided the Stars to an 89-62-25 record in 176 regular-season games over almost three seasons, and an 18-16 mark in the playoffs.
Dallas lost in overtime in Game 7 to Calgary in the first round of this year's playoffs. It reached the 2020 Stanley Cup final in the playoff bubble in Edmonton and lost to Tampa Bay.
Bowness, a 67-year-old native of Moncton, N.B., who signed a two-year contract Sunday, is the Jets' eighth head coach in franchise history and third since the club's relocation to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011.
Bowness said former Jets player Scott Arniel, an assistant with the Washington Capitals this year, has been hired as associate coach.
The Jets were looking for a bench boss with connections to the team and Bowness has that.
The former right wing ended his 173-game NHL playing career with Winnipeg in the 1982 playoffs. He also began his head coaching career with the Jets in 1988-89, when he ran the bench for the team's last 28 games. He has an 211-351-76 record as an NHL head coach over parts of 12 seasons.
He'll have a lot on his plate with the underachieving Jets, who didn't reach the playoffs this year for the seventh time since the club moved to Winnipeg.
Many players also expressed frustration about the season, which included Paul Maurice unexpectedly resigning last December. The club finished with interim head coach Dave Lowry and went 39-32-11.
"There was something missing there," Bowness said of the Jets last season. "I'm not getting into it because I wasn't here. It just got derailed a little bit.
"But if you go back and you look at the roster, how competitive they were for a while, it's there. We just have to work together, all of us, players included, to get it back."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."
Trucker's body found in trailer in Newfoundland after failed police search in Ontario
Ontario Provincial Police are facing tough questions about their search for a missing Newfoundland trucker whose rig was found two weeks ago in Ontario, then sent back to Newfoundland, where his body was found Monday in the trailer.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
German men with the strongest fingers compete in Bavaria's 'Fingerhakeln' wrestling championship
Despite the threat of dislocated fingers and strained muscles, over 150 Bavarian men came together Sunday to compete in Germany’s unique national championship of “Fingerhakeln,” or finger wrestling.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Feds 'committed to doing more,' but minister offers no timeline for Canadian Disability Benefit boost
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.