Pierre Lebrun of ESPN is reporting on Twitter this morning that Tampa Bay Lightning Assistant Coach Rick Bowness has signed an extension to stay with with the franchise:
Hearing that Rick Bowness has signed an extension with Tampa Bay. Good place to stay. Close to a Cup perhaps.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) June 14, 2016
There had also been recent reports that Bowness was interviewed for the head coaching position with the Anaheim Ducks.
Hearing TB associate coach Rick Bowness went deep into the mix for ANA job. Interesting. That’s a name that wasn’t out there.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 11, 2016
Instead, it appears that Bowness will remain in his position as head coach Jon Cooper’s right hand man.
Bowness was a veteran of 173 NHL games as a right winger playing with the Atlanta Flames, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Winnipeg Jets. After retiring as a player after the 1983-84 season, Bowness immediately went into coaching. He was an assistant in Winnipeg for 3 seasons, a head coach in the AHL for a season and a half before replacing the Winnipeg head coach midseason. He returned to the AHL as a head coach for two seasons before his return to the NHL. He was head coach of the Boston Bruins for one season, Ottawa Senators for three and a half seasons. He was an assistant and then Head Coach of the New York Islanders over parts of three seasons. He was an assistant with the Phoenix Coyotes for six seasons, and an assistant in Vancouver for seven seasons.
He joined Tampa Bay as Associate Coach in 2013-14. Bowness was brought in to be a veteran coaching presence along side Cooper as he entered his first full year in the NHL. With the Lightning, Bowness has been in charge of the defensemen and the penalty kill. In his first three seasons, the Penalty Kill has finished 7th, 8th, and 3rd in the NHL.
Without a doubt, keeping Bowness in the mix in Tampa Bay is good. Good for him, as he knows this is a team that’s close to winning a Stanley Cup which he has never done, and good for the team because of the experience and knowledge he has brought with him.
