When Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff made his first phone call to Rick Bowness in June 2022, he didn’t get an answer.
Bowness and his wife Judy were in Scottsdale, Ariz. They planned to look for a home and settle down near their son, Ryan, and his family. Rick Bowness, then 67 years old, had already stood behind an NHL bench for more games than anyone in league history. He’d stepped down from his head coaching job in Dallas the previous month and turned down multiple job offers since that time.
When Cheveldayoff made the call that set the wheels in motion to make Bowness the Jets’ head coach — and this season, with Winnipeg leading the Central Division, a coach at the All-Star Game — Bowness’ phone wasn’t his priority: he was golfing. So, they tried a different tack: Assistant GM Larry Simmons reached out to one of his closest friends: Rick’s son Ryan.
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Simmons had given Ryan Bowness his first NHL job in Atlanta, as manager of hockey operations for the Thrashers. True North retained him when it moved the team to Winnipeg, allowing Simmons and Bowness’ friendship to grow so close that Simmons ended up in Ryan’s wedding party.
The Jets had an “in.” To that end, Simmons had already texted…
