The harsh words of Rick Bowness towards his players were not well received in the locker room.
The captain of the Winnipeg Jets, Blake Wheeler, denounced Saturday morning a lack of honesty on the part of the head coach. He would have preferred Bowness to talk to the players about it before venting his feelings in public.
“Bowness had the opportunity to speak to us as a team. He could have been honest with us and handled the situation internally. I didn’t like the way he behaved after the game,” Wheeler said when taking stock of the season. See his press briefing here:
After the Jets’ elimination in Game 5 of their series against the Vegas Golden KnightsBowness had grumbled in a press briefing, saying he was “so disappointed and disgusted” by the overall performance of his players.
“There was no desire to retaliate. It’s the same crap we saw in February. As soon as our opponents challenged us for first place, we didn’t fight back. Here their best players were superior to ours, it wasn’t even close, he lamented.
“You have to feel pride and be able to turn things around when things are not going well for you. The Knights deserved to win. They were the best regular season roster in the Western Conference and they were the strongest in this series.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for several members of the organization, including Bowness. Since joining, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has won three playoff series in 12 years.
Among players, Pierre-Luc Dubois should be the subject of more rumors linking him to the Montreal Canadiens. He is eligible for salary arbitration this year and could test the freelance market in the summer of 2024 without a contract lasting longer than a year.
2023-04-29 16:32:20
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