‘Losing doesn’t bother them’: Blue Jackets coach Bowness slams team as their season ends
With the season now in the rearview mirror, Rick Bowness wasted no time calling out his players.
In the wake of a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets head coach spoke on the team and the culture problems surrounding them to close out the year.
“All you got to do is look at the stat sheet. Three hits, 23 giveaways,” Bowness said. “I don’t know if I’m back, but if I’m back, I’m changing this culture. 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? Should have done this about a month ago, but this is why we are where we are. This is why we’re out of the playoffs, that kind of effort. Losing, you have to hate losing. I don’t care if it’s a meaningless game.”
Bowness was a midseason coaching hire for the Blue Jackets after the firing of Dean Evason. Hired on January 12th when Columbus was 19-19-7, the team went red hot to start Bowness’ tenure with a 10-1-0 stretch going into the Olympic break before finishing the season 11-9-5 upon his return.
The hiring was a surprise not only because Evason was coming off a solid first season in Columbus, but because Bowness had retired a year and a half ago after a two-season stint with the Winnipeg Jets.
The Blue Jackets’ poor final stretch means they finishes the season 40-30-12, only good enough for 11th in the Eastern Conference and, more importantly, at least five points out of a playoff spot.
“Some of those guys are lucky the season’s over and there’s no practice tomorrow,” Bowness said. “It’s terrible and inexcusable. If they’re not embarrassed by not only tonight, they’re on the wrong team. They got to be embarrassed with that.”
While Bowness’ contract is not confirmed, the original intention of the hiring seemed to be that he was going to be behind the bench for just this season to evaluate the team, considering he was coming out of retirement for the job. However, it appears he may want to stick around longer.
“There’s ways,” Bowness said when asked about how he’d change the culture. “I’ve been around long enough to know I’ll find ways. I’ve had enough experience. We can deal with this. I’ve dealt with it before. If I’m back, we’ll straighten it out.”
This isn’t the first time Bowness has called out his team after the season has ended. He did the same in his first season with the Jets in 2022-23, slamming them for their lack of pushback in the wake of a 4-1 series loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.