Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness wanted to shake up his players by declaring that their performance was “disgusting” against the Vegas Golden Knights during the last playoffs.
This is what he said during his appearance on the “Bob McCown Podcast”.
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“Sometimes drawing a line in the sand is part of the job. When you do that, there are usually a few guys who are going to get shaken up. It’s correct. It was my goal to shake them up and make them think about it,” Bowness said.
In 2022-2023, the 68-year-old’s first season behind the Jets bench, the Manitoba club maintained a 46-33-3 record and finished fourth in the Central Division. Winnipeg then lost in five games against the Golden Knights in the first round of the playoffs.
The Scheifele and Hellebuyck case
Bowness also discussed the cases of forward Mark Scheifele and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. The two hockey players are playing the last year of their contracts in 2023-2024 and they are at the heart of transaction rumors.
“They’re guys with character and I don’t think they’re going to get distracted by all that,” Bowness said. Hopefully things will be resolved with them, they will sign new deals and they will be here longer than just another year.”
The Jets’ most recent summer was also marked by a big trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings. In return, Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari came to Winnipeg.
The Quebecer made no secret of the fact that he no longer wanted to work for the Canadian club.
“The biggest thing is all three guys want to be here,” Bowness said. We heard too many guys saying they didn’t want to be here anymore. When I called the newcomers after the trade, all three told me they were excited to come to Winnipeg and that they want to be Jets.
