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.”
Call it bonus time. Or, perhaps, “Bowness Time.”
Lured out of retirement to breathe life into the under-performing Blue Jackets in January by replacing Dean Evason, Bowness had nothing to lose in trying to push Columbus back into contention.
Under Bowness, the Blue Jackets have gone 20-9-5 to jump from being tied for last in the East standings to sitting two points out of third in the Metropolitan Division with three games remaining. His upbeat approach hasn’t wavered amid the Blue Jackets’ sudden 2-7-1 skid.
Asked what it will take for forward Kirill Marchenko to regain his scoring touch, Bowness said: “I’d like to see him smile a little bit more, loosen up.”
And he focused solely on the positives following the loss to Buffalo in a game the Blue Jackets outshot the Sabres, 37-24.
“That second period was one of the best periods we played all year. And we came out of it with nothing to show for it,” he said, before looking ahead to the next game at Montreal. “If we play like that again on Saturday, we’ll be fine.”
The Blue Jackets have bought in, crediting Bowness for his experience, clear messaging and steady approach.
“He gives us confidence the way he backs us. And you want to play for a guy like that. And we want to do well for him, honestly,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “It’s what we needed and it’s what he brought. I don’t think it’s any fluke that we started playing well.”
Bowness was a journeyman player who split six NHL seasons across four teams before turning to coaching in a career that’s spanned North America, from an AHL stint in his hometown of Moncton, New Brunswick, to stops with the Islanders, Phoenix and Vancouver.
He was the first coach of the Ottawa Senators, a franchise that struggled in its infancy, and was fired following a three-plus-year tenure. Success didn’t help Bowness in his first and only season in Boston, where he oversaw an injury-depleted team that reached the 1992 East final, only to be fired and replaced by Brian Sutter.
His career numbers are relatively modest, with a regular-season record of 330-417-42 and 48 ties, and 28-31 in the playoffs.
Some of Bowness’ most memorable highlights came with Dallas during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, upon taking over as interim coach after Jim Montgomery was fired for unprofessional conduct. The Stars finished fifth in the West but turned it on to reach the Stanley Cup Final before losing to Tampa Bay.
Bowness was rewarded by being hired as the Stars' full-time coach before stepping down after his two-year contract expired. He spent the next two seasons in Winnipeg before announcing his retirement, citing health and family reasons.
Bowness said he’s retired twice, though he didn’t specify the first time.
And yet, the chance for one more comeback was difficult to pass up when Columbus called.
“I just love it. That’s why I came back,” Bowness said in January. “The one thing I missed was the interaction with the players. I loved that part of coaching.”
He had the same answer in Buffalo this week, especially with Columbus in the playoff mix.
“I love being in these races. What better time of year to be playing,” Bowness said.
“There’s enough teams in our league that aren’t playing meaningful games, right? We are,” he added. “Every day in this league is a blessing.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Columbus Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness, center top, looks on during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-moving fire fueled by high winds burned at least six homes in Southern California on Friday, engulfing expensive coastal properties and prompting thousands to evacuate.
Black smoke — visible from miles away — billowed over tennis courts and swimming pools while firefighters doused blazing homes in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Some homeowners sprayed water on their properties before heeding evacuation orders.
Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries, officials said. Authorities have not said how the blaze, which was less than a square mile as of Friday evening, started.
“Had these winds been a little bit stronger, a little bit different direction, this could have been a whole lot worse," said San Clemente Mayor Rick Loeffler.
Howard Hart, a councilmember for San Juan Capistrano, said he and his wife doused their roof with water and moved propane tanks away from their home before they evacuated Friday with a to-go bag.
Laura Hart hasn’t had to evacuate due to fire in the more than five decades she’s lived in the community, she said.
“This doesn’t usually happen to us, we usually see it on the news,” she said. “We always pray to God it’s not us, but yeah, it was today.”
The Norte fire started in the coastal city of San Clemente, and wind drove it into San Juan Capistrano. An evacuation shelter has opened in each city. By Friday night, about 16,000 residents had been ordered to evacuate, said Fire Chief TJ McGovern, of the Orange County Fire Authority.
It was one of several fires in the region hit by dry, warm gusts known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior and toward the coast. The strongest winds were expected through Friday afternoon, but conditions that increase the fire risk were expected to last through Saturday night, with a heat advisory in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday on the Orange County and San Diego County coast, the National Weather Service said.
Tens of thousands of people in the state are without power after their electricity was turned off. A separate fire by the Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton shut down for hours a section of Interstate 5 that is a major artery connecting Orange County to San Diego. That added hours to commutes throughout Southern California.
The coastal cities are surrounded by hillsides. San Juan Capistrano, a city of 35,000, is known for horse trails and the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. San Clemente, which is home to 62,000 people, is known as a “Spanish village by the sea” and popular with beachgoers and surfers.
“The fire is right up on the city,” said Victor Cabral, a San Clemente Council member. “It’s on the perimeter of our homes on the north end.”
Nine schools were also closed Friday in San Juan Capistrano, the Capistrano Unified School District said.
Nearby residents were also on edge as smoke darkened the sky.
Wyoming resident Shannon Needham was visiting her mother at her assisted living facility in Dana Point just north of San Clemente when she learned about the fire.
The facility director told her that two buses would be on standby in case they needed to evacuate, Needham said.
“You could hear the fire trucks, you could hear the helicopters and everything above. And it was so smoky, it was just dark smoke," Needham said.
Some of California’s worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment, and utilities in recent years have begun proactively shutting off power in dry winds. More than 118,000 customers in California were without electricity as of Friday, according to poweroutage.com.
The weather service also issued a red flag warning for parts of central and Northern California through Friday morning, saying any fires would spread rapidly.
Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.
A firefighter stands on the roof of his engine as he prepares to leave the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
Crews hose down properties burned by the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A roof engulfed in flames is seen during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Resident Ephraim Taylor, grabs a garden hose in an effort to help with a wildfire spreading in his neighborhood, during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A firefighters works to douse a fire on the roof of a house engulfed in flames during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Firefighters work to douse a fire on house in flames during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The sun is obscured by smoke as firefighters work to save structures on Via La Mirada during the Norte fire in San Clemente, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)
Firefighters work to save structures on Via La Mirada during the Norte fire in San Clemente, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP)
The Bryson Fire illuminates a ridge top on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Crews make a stand in front of the Bryson Fire on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Crews make a stand in front of the Bryson Fire on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A tanker drops retardant on the Peak Fire Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, in Azusa, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Hot spots glow across a hillside during the Bryson Fire in Malibu, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
