Rick Bowness was away from the Winnipeg Jets to be with his wife, but the team announced his return on Friday.
Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness returned to the team after taking a leave of absence, the team announced Friday.
Bowness, 68, was away from the team for a month to be with his wife, Judy Bowness, after she suffered a seizure on the night of Oct. 22 and was in hospital undergoing further testing. Associate coach Scott Arniel served as the interim coach during that time, with the Jets posting a 9-2-2 record in that span.
The Jets have an 11-5-2 overall record so far in 2023-24, ranking third in the Central Division with 24 points. They also have a three-point cushion between them and the St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken in the Western Conference wild-card spots.
This is Bowness' second season coaching the Jets – with 100 games and a 57-38-5 record so far – and 14th season as a head coach in the NHL. Before his stint began in Winnipeg, he spent parts of three seasons coaching the Dallas Stars, helping the team to a Western Conference championship in the 2019-20 COVID bubble playoffs.
Bowness also coached the original Winnipeg Jets in 1988-89 for 28 games, the Boston Bruins in 1991-92 for a season, the Ottawa Senators for the first four seasons of their new franchise, the New York Islanders for parts of two seasons between 1996-97 and '97-98, and the Phoenix Coyotes for 20 matches in 2003-04. Overall, the Moncton, N.B., native has a coaching record of 269 wins, 389 regulation losses, 33 overtime losses and 48 ties in 738 games. He also has 54 games of playoff experience, with an even 27 wins and 27 losses.
The Jets are in action on Friday against the Florida Panthers, looking to extend their winning streak to five games. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. ET in Sunrise.