Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness will be taking a leave of absence from the team after his wife, Judy, suffered a seizure on Sunday, the team announced.
Judy is currently in the hospital undergoing further tests.
Jets associate coach Scott Arniel will take over for Bowness on an interim basis.
Bowness, 68, holds the NHL record for most games coached by an individual with 2,655.
Since starting his coaching career as an assistant with the Jets in 1984, Bowness has been one of the most well-travelled coaches in hockey. He’s had head coaching stints with the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Arizona Coyotes (interim) and Dallas Stars, while also working as an assistant for the Vancouver Canucks and Tampa Bay Lightning.
According to ESPN, Bowness, Scotty Bowman and Pat Quinn are the only three coaches in NHL history to serve as a head coach in five different decades.
“I wouldn’t have coached one day, let alone all these years, without (Judy’s) love and support and willingness to say, ‘Okay, let’s pack up, and where are we going?'” Bowness told the Tampa Bay Times in 2017 after breaking Bowman’s record for most NHL games coached.
Both of Rick and Judy’s children work in hockey. Their son, Ryan, is the assistant GM of the Senators and their daughter, Kristen, is the Director of Amateur Hockey and Fan Development for the Nashville Predators.
Arniel, 61, is serving as Winnipeg’s interim bench boss early in the year for a second consecutive season after briefly taking the reins last fall when Bowness contracted COVID-19. Prior to joining the Jets ahead of the 2022-23 season, Arniel was an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals for four seasons and an associate coach for the New York Rangers for five seasons before that.
Arniel was the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the 2010-11 season and half of the 2011-12 campaign before being fired midway through that year.
Winnipeg is off to a 2-3-0 start in 2023-24.
