The Winnipeg Jets are hiring Rick Bowness as their new head coach, Sportsnet can confirm.
This is a return of sorts for Bowness, whose first NHL head coaching job was with the original Jets for the back end of the 1988-89 season as a midseason replacement.
Bowness was most recently coach of the Dallas Stars. He was elevated from assistant to interim coach in 2019-20 and became the permanent bench boss until the end of the 2021-22 season. During his three seasons with the club, the Stars made the Stanley Cup Final in 2019-20 and were eliminated in the first round of the most recent playoffs.
Bowness also was head coach of the Arizona Coyotes in 2003-04, the New York Islanders from 1996-97 to 1997-98, the Ottawa Senators from 1992-93 to 1995-96 and the Boston Bruins in 1991-92.
The Jets’ coaching search went into a second phase earlier in June when Barry Trotz decided he was not ready to return to coaching after Winnipeg had targeted the Manitoba native, who was fired by the New York Islanders.
The Jets decided to embark on a search after finishing the year with an interim coach in Dave Lowry.
Lowry’s appointment followed the resignation of Paul Maurice in December.
