After signing a one-year deal in Columbus, Bowness clarified on Thursday that he was only talking about "some" of his players in his now famous season-ending rant on Tuesday.
It was a story that had all hockey fans talking this week.
Former Senators head coach Rick Bowness made national headlines when he went on an emotional, season-ending tirade about his Columbus Blue Jackets players. Following the team's final loss in a meaningless game on Tuesday, Bowness was seething.
He didn't just read them the riot act behind closed doors. He didn't just step up to the microphone and tell reporters that his guys played like garbage.
No, this got personal. Bowness told the whole world that his players don't care.
"I don't know if I'm back, but if I'm back, I'm changing this culture,” an emotional Bowness said on Tuesday. “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?"
The comments were met in the hockey world by an interesting mix of celebration and criticism.
On Wednesday, as players held their final media availability, almost of his players took the time to say that while they have great respect for Bowness, they disagreed with his proclamation that they don't care.
Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell was fine with the comments, announcing on Thursday afternoon that he'd removed the interim label and signed Bowness to a one-year deal.
When he and Waddell were asked about Tuesday night, Bowness clarified that he was only talking about "some" of his players when he said his players didn't care.
"I wasn't painting the whole team with that brush," Bowness said. "There's a couple of guys that I've got to get on board."
As a sidebar, he could have left it at that. After all, things get emotional, things get said, and Bowness is universally known as one of the best people in the game, and a man who's built up a lifetime of credit and benefit of doubt.
But he opted to place some of the blame at the feet of the media.
Bowness gave zero indication that he was speaking about only a couple of players, speaking only in team terms for a good 90 seconds. Finally, he said, 'There are a few guys in (the locker room) that are very happy there's no practice or game tomorrow.'
Bowness implied that his Tuesday comment about next-day practice should have clarified that he was only referring to "a few guys," and then joked that that part of his commentary wasn't reported "because it's not as good a story."
In fairness, most of the reporting I saw included the next-day practice comment. But whether it did or not, it wasn't nearly enough to wash away the previous 90 seconds of bashing his entire team, with nary a reference to "some guys" or a "few guys."
Tuesday's miscommunication wasn't a media issue.
But regardless of how Bowness got there on Thursday, it was a smart, important clarification that was much needed.
We often talk about players tuning out a coach, and it's hard to imagine a faster way to get to that point with your group than publicly insulting their character by telling everyone that they don't care... and then not address it.
It's not exactly how you want to begin your first day as a full-time employee and the leader of the very men you'll ask to go to battle for you this fall.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News