The Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday announced a decision about their head coach, Rick Bowness, for the team’s next two games.
Bowness missed the Blue Jackets’ last game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, and now he is set to miss another two games, with assistant coach Don Granato taking over the head-coaching duties for these two matchups.
Rick Bowness Out 2 More Games With Illness
Per NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Bowness is dealing with an illness and will not coach the Blue Jackets’ next two games against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight and against the New York Islanders on Monday night.
“Columbus GM Don Waddell said Don Granato will coach tonight vs Philadelphia and Monday on Long Island. Rick Bowness is getting checked out for the illness that sidelined him this week. Waddell listed him as ‘day-to-day’ and hopes he can join them on their road trip,” Friedman wrote on his X.
Rick Bowness is getting checked out for the illness that sidelined him this week. Waddell listed him as “day-to-day” and hopes he can join them on their road trip.
Rick Bowness Is NHL’s Oldest Head Coach
At age 71, Bowness is the NHL’s oldest head coach.
He has been Columbus’s head coach since taking over last season from the fired Dean Evason, and although the Blue Jackets had a winning record last year under his watch, the team ended up missing the postseason.
This year, the Blue Jackets are once again on pace to miss the playoffs as they aren’t a very good team, though it’s not really Bowness’s fault, as he can only do so much with the mediocre roster that Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has given him.
Bowness is on a one-year contract with the Blue Jackets, so it’s possible this could be a one-and-done sort of deal for the aging head coach, who has been coaching in the NHL since the 1980s, giving him more experience than most head coaches in the NHL.
Hopefully, Bowness can recover from whatever illness he is dealing with and return to Columbus’s bench sooner rather than later, but the fact that he will have missed three games is obviously very concerning, so it makes sense that the Blue Jackets take their time getting him back to the bench.
Blue Jackets Announce Decision on Head Coach Rick Bowness