Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness has announced his retirement

Rick Bowness has retired from coaching in the NHL after 38 seasons.

The Winnipeg Jets head coach led the team to a 98-57-9 record en route to the Stanley Cup playoffs in his two seasons as head coach.

Bowness has never won a Cup, but told reporters Monday that winning the NHL's final trophy isn't his only motivation.

“It's always been important. But as you get older, you hope to have an impact on the lives of your players, off the ice, on the ice,” Bowness told reporters Monday at the closing news conference at the Canada Life Centre.

Bowness gets excited when he talks about hockey, and everyone he's met in his decades as an NHL coach means everything to him.

The 69-year-old Moncton native coached eight different franchises and was behind the bench in 17 playoff games, including a trip to the Finals as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, as an assistant with Tampa Bay. Lightning in 2015, and in 2020 as head coach of the Dallas Stars.

He is one of three head coaches (along with Scotty Bowen and Pat Quinn) to serve behind the bench in five different decades.

His 2,726 games as an NHL head coach or assistant coach are the most in league history.

Bowness is also a finalist for this season's Jack Adams Award, which recognizes “the NHL coach who has contributed the most to his team's success.”

Under his leadership, the Jets set franchise records this season for road wins (25), winning streak (eight games, two shutouts) and hitting streak (14 games).

The team also went on a 35-game streak in which they allowed three goals or fewer, setting a franchise record. During that stretch, they went 14 games without allowing more than two goals, setting a club record.

Their 52 wins matched a franchise record in 2017-18.

Bowness is also credited with changing the team's dynamic, which some observers thought was dysfunctional prior to his return to Winnipeg.

“You talk about someone who leaves it better than when they came in, and Rick embodies that,” Jets captain Adam Lowry said.

Bowness originally signed a two-year contract with the team through July 2022. The third year was the choice of the club.

However, his regular season success in Winnipeg did not carry over into the playoffs. His Jets were swept by the heavily favored Vegas Golden Knights in the first round in 2023, then again last week by the Colorado Avalanche.

The Jets won the season series against the Avalanche and finished higher in the regular season standings.

During his postseason conference call with reporters last week, he was asked about his intentions for the 2024-25 season and said he had spoken with his family and met with the Jets brass.

“I know what I'm going to do,” he said. “I know what I want to do, and it will come out.”

Bowness said Monday he knew what he wanted to do within an hour of the Colorado Avalanche destroying Winnipeg.

“When I look around, I'm not happy with the work I've done and I'm not happy, it's time,” he said, regretting not taking the team further.

Arniel was interested in the job

Bowness has left the team twice this season after his wife suffered a seizure last October and then after a minor medical procedure of her own in March.

Associate coach Scott Arniel, who played several games this season when Bowness was absent for personal reasons, said he had spoken with Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and co-owner Mark Chipman about his interest in the head coaching job.

“They know my intentions, what I want and what I want. We will talk more. It's really at a very early stage,” Arniel said, deferring further comment out of respect for Bowness.