Call it 'Bowness Time.' Lured out of retirement, Blue Jackets coach enjoying playoff-race pressure

Age has its privileges, something Rick Bowness is fondly enjoying in the overtime of his coaching career. At 71 and by his count twice retired, Bowness hasn’t lost the urgency to win in his latest interim job coaching the Columbus Blue Jackets. What he has also instead is that he is freed from the anxieties and fear of losing with Columbus in the thick of a tight race for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spots entering the last week of the season.

“I’m probably more relaxed now,” Bowness said on Thursday, before a 5-0 loss at Buffalo . Relaxed is a word Bowness would not have previously contemplated using upon reflecting on the early days of a career that’s spanned five decades and eight teams, including both iterations of the Winnipeg Jets. “At 41, you’re worried about your career.

You’re worried about your next job and everything,” Bowness said. “Well, I’m not, right? And I had the same thing in Dallas,” he added, referring to his previous stint as the Stars interim coach.

“I’m not worried about extending my career. Man, I’m good. So we’re just going to enjoy every day we can.