Jets head coach Bowness takes leave of absence to care for wife in hospital – Winnipeg

Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness is taking a leave of absence from the bench.

The team announced Bowness’ leave Monday morning and said he’s taking the time off to care for his wife Judy, who is in hospital after having a seizure Sunday evening.

During Bowness’ absence, associate coach Scott Arniel will take the reins.

Bowness, 68, was hired as the head coach for the current incarnation of the Jets in the summer of 2022, taking over for interim bench boss Dave Lowry, who filled the void after Paul Maurice’s abrupt December 2021 resignation.

Prior to taking his current gig with the Jets, Bowness was no stranger to Winnipeg — he wore a Jets 1.0 sweater in his playing days for 45 games in 1980-81, and became an assistant coach, then briefly a head coach, in the mid-1980s.

His temporary replacement, Arniel, also has a long history in Winnipeg, playing for the original Jets in two separate stints, plus three years as a Manitoba Moose player and four as coach.

Under Bowness, the Jets had a 46-33-3 record last season, and are 2-3-0 so far in the current campaign.

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