After working for 14 years as a consultant in the organization of the Chicago Blackhawks, Scotty Bowman decided to turn the page. The 88-year-old made the announcement via his Twitter account, adding that he wants to stay in hockey.
Reached by TVASports.ca shortly after this viral tweet shared more than 700 times and liked by more than 6,500 Internet users, Tuesday afternoon, the Verdunois was in a perky mood.
“I am like all the others! I am a free agent!” he declared from the Buffalo region.
The decision to leave the Blackhawks was made in mid-June, as he said “not doing much.” Add to that the tumult the organization has been through over the past year and it’s obvious Bowman needed a new challenge.
“It was time to leave,” he informs. I had the chance to work with my son (Stan), an experience that I loved. He got sick, but he’s recovered now. It’s been a tough year, but it’s over. I look ahead.”
An interest for the CH?
Bowman won nine Stanley Cups as a head coach, including five with the Montreal Canadiens. His name was engraved on the prestigious trophy five more times while serving in administration for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and, most recently, the Blackhawks.
This means that one of the greatest hockey minds of the modern era is ready to listen to the 31 other teams on the circuit at a time when the Club de hockey Canadien is at the heart of a reconstruction, both in terms of ice only on the seventh floor.
Could he be tempted by a consulting position with Sainte-Flanelle?
“I don’t close the door, but I don’t open it either,” he said, procrastinating somewhat. I have many beautiful memories and I have no regrets there. I wish them the best.
“I believe there will be positive vibes around this club. He’s not that far off.”
These words, Bowman pronounces them with ease, without restraint. From the start of the telephone interview, he himself made a point of praising the work of the new administration in the amateur draft last week.
“I thought they got some good players. I like what they did. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are doing a good job”, underline the one who always says he has an attachment to the Quebec metropolis.
“The two teams I followed the most were Montreal and Detroit. I started with the Canadian school club after being a recruiter in Peterborough and when I arrived behind the bench (in 1971), we won the cup in my second season.
The pleasure of watching hockey
Bowman is spending the hockey season in Sarasota, Fla., and most recently spied nearly every Tampa Bay Lightning game during his tenure with the Hawks. He swears he only missed six games.
“They assigned me a good seat on the press gallery. I enjoy watching the games and talking with the scouts. Some are passing through for one or two matches. Many are former players, like Adam Creighton of the Boston Bruins. I drafted him (in 1983) with the Buffalo Sabres!”
Of course, Bowman still has excellent contacts in the hockey world and he remains on the lookout despite the evolution of the sport since the days when he had a love-hate relationship with his players, first during the dynasty Montrealer of the 1970s.
Steve Shutt, who played under Bowman from 1972 to 1979, once quipped that he was the type of coach a player hates 364 days a year, until he slipped his championship ring on the 365th day.
“The sport has changed so much. There are things I did that were good. Others, less well.
Other times, other manners.
Some therefore see the charismatic strategist as part of the “old school” while pedagogy and player psychology are crucial issues for a coach in modernity. The analytical side has also grown and influences decision-makers more than ever.
Still, Bowman is not looking to get back behind a bench: “Recently, I’ve spent most of my time helping coaches and discussing the role of instructor,” he says.
When it comes to his next challenge, Bowman doesn’t want to rush anything. He knows all too well that every club has to go through a cycle, sooner or later.
“I just left (the Blackhawks). I didn’t tell them that I wanted to end up somewhere else. I liked what I did and I leave the organization in the same state as it was when I arrived.