Rick Bowness is heading to his first NHL All-Star game.
In a season filled with recent ongoing success amid a myriad of injuries, Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness is being recognized for his team's success with an invitation to the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend.
Held this season at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON., the Jets' bench boss will join Winnipeg's starting goaltender Connor Hellebuyck at the annual festivity set in place to honour the NHL's top players.
With 44 players set to take part in the weekend celebration in Toronto, the four clubs atop each of the NHL division's will see their coaches also serve on the benches, one for each of the mini teams.
As the Jets sit in first place in the Central with a 28-10-4 record through 42 games, Bowness has earned his right to make his first appearance at an All-Star event since entering the league's coaching realm in 1984.
“Obviously that’s a tremendous tribute to Chevy," Bowness said of his honour. "The team he’s put together. It’s obviously a great tribute to Scotty and the coaching staff who held this thing together for a month. How many coaches get to leave their team for a month and continue to do well?
Bowness, 68, has coached for 35 seasons and has never been to an All-Star game. He has a 286-394-48-35 record through 763 regular season games as head coach. The veteran bench boss made it to the Stanley Cup Final one time with the Dallas Stars in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
"And give the players a ton of credit. This group has worked hard from day one," he continued. "They haven’t let up. They’ve kept their foot on the gas pedal. So it’s a great group. This is a good team on the ice, and it’s a really good team off the ice. And that’s just as important.”
He will join Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks (Pacific), Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers (Metropolitan), and Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins (Atlantic) as honoured coaches.
Despite injuries to Gabriel Vilardi, Kyle Connor and Rasmus Kupari, Bowness' Jets have been the talk of the town - and in some cases, the entire league. Winnipeg has won significantly more than it has lost this season, and much can be credited to its coach.
Although missing games earlier in the season after taking a backseat due to a family situation involving his wife Judy, Bowness has grabbed the bull by the horns and helped lead his team to franchise-record win streaks, while putting personal situations on the back-burner. And because of that, he's earned his shot at NHL All-stardom.