Scotty Bowman
William Scott " Scotty" Bowman ( born September 18, 1933, Montréal, Québec, Canada ) is a former ice hockey player, coach and general manager. In the National Hockey League, he coached the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings and won as head coach of the team nine times the Stanley Cup. Another three Stanley Cups he won as a functionary. With 1244 games won Bowman is the winningest coach in the history of the NHL. He is currently a consultant with the Chicago Blackhawks.
- 2.1 As a coach
- 2.2 As a functionary
- 3.1 As a coach
Career
1951-1971: Beginning with the juniors and the first successes in the NHL
Scotty Bowman began his career as a player in 1951 at the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Canadian Junior Football League QJHL and played for the team for three years before a head injury ended his career.
He then turned to working as a trainer and in 1956 assistant coach of the junior farm team of the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Junior Canadiens. After a season Bowman was appointed head coach compiled by Manager Sam Pollock team and led them to win the Memorial Cup in the spring of 1958. Following this success, he moved to the TPT Petes in the Canadian Junior Football League OHA. In his first year the team won the George Richardson Memorial Trophy as the best team from the East of Canada failed in the final of the Memorial Cup but on Master of the West, the Winnipeg Braves.
Bowman coached the Petes for a further two seasons, but reached no further significant successes. In the summer of 1962, he took over for the first time a senior citizen team when he was coach of the Hull- Ottawa Senators from the EPHL, had three years earlier, together with Bowman's former team, the Ottawa Junior Canadiens. However, the league was disbanded in 1963 and thus the Senators.
In the season 1963/64, he trained then briefly the Omaha Knights of the CPhl before he worked for the remainder of the season with the Montreal Notre Dame de Grace Monarchs in QJHL. In 1964 Bowman as coach with the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the OHA junior league and was there for two years.
In 1967 he was engaged by the St. Louis Blues as assistant coach, taken as one of six new teams in the NHL. But head coach Lynn Patrick gave up his post after only 16 games, and only four wins and Bowman became his successor. Under his leadership, the Blues could still qualify for the playoffs and went there to the finals for the Stanley Cup a failed there, however, to the Montreal Canadiens. Bowman took over in the summer of 1968 and the post of General Manager of Patrick and St. Louis was in the next two years the dominant team in the West Division and finished the regular season in both years, with leading edge in the first place from. In addition, they reached in both game time again, the Stanley Cup final, but both times had to admit defeat.
In the fall of 1970 Bowman gave as coach Al Arbour, who was still captain of the Blues recently and had ended his career. After he had coached the team for 50 games in the 1970/71 season, Arbour returned but again back on the ice and Bowman again took over the post of coach. After the season, but there were differences of opinion between him and the team owners, after Bowman left the Blues.
1971-1979: The dynasty of the Montreal Canadiens
A little later, Bowman was hired by the Montreal Canadiens as a coach, which took place seven years of Sam Pollock as general manager, who had already worked with the Ottawa Junior Canadiens to Bowman. Together they built in the following years, young players like Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Steve Shutt, Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey in the team, which quickly developed into important pillars of the Canadiens and after the end of their careers in the Hockey Hall of Fame were taken.
Presented in DC Bowmans Premiere 1971/72 season, the Canadiens franchise record of 46 wins, but already failed in the first round of the playoffs. The record was but far exceeded the following year with 52 hits and Montreal led the league at the end of the regular season significantly. Even in the playoffs this time they put their good performances continued and won after a successful series against the Buffalo Sabres and the Philadelphia Flyers finally the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks.
There followed then two solid seasons, but a renewed title win was not possible due to a first-and a second-round defeat. With the 1975/76 season, the Canadiens began but their dominance in the NHL. With 58 victories placed the franchise to a new league record and finished the regular season on the top position in the league. Even in the playoffs, the team showed their strength and had to be on the way to the Stanley Cup victory in just one hit of 13 games give. 1976/77 improved the Canadiens out of Bowman 's record from the previous year to 60 victories in one season, would last for 19 years. Without much difficulty, the team moved back into the Stanley Cup finals and won there to lose against the Boston Bruins without a game in the series. After the second Stanley Cup win in a row Bowman was also with the Jack Adams Award as the best coach in the NHL.
Your success put the Montreal Canadiens continued in 1977/ 78 and again were the best team at the end of the regular season with 16 points ahead of the Boston Bruins. After victories in the first two playoff rounds over the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canadiens the Boston Bruins were like last year, compared to in the final of the Stanley Cup. But this time, Montreal could not decide without defeat for the series. Instead, it was 2-2 after four games, but the Canadiens won the next two games of the series and thus the Stanley Cup.
In the 1978/79 season, the dominance of the franchise seemed to subside. Although the occupied Canadiens continue unchallenged first place in the Prince of Wales Conference, but the New York Islanders from the Clarence Campbell Conference were at the end of the regular season on the top position in the NHL with one point ahead of Montreal. Even in the playoffs, the Canadiens presented somewhat weaker than in the previous three seasons. As in the two previous years, the Canadiens met again on the Boston Bruins, but this time already in the semifinals and it developed into a very competitive series. Montreal led 3-2 after five games though, but Boston was like the series with a win in the sixth game again from. In the decisive seventh game was after 60 minutes of playing time found no winner after Montreal was able to compensate for 4:4 only within the last two minutes of normal time by Guy Lafleur. In the extension eventually won the Canadiens and defeated in the Stanley Cup final to the New York Rangers for the fourth time in a row to win the champions trophy.
The team owners of the Canadiens promised Scotty Bowman Although some years before the post of General Manager, Sam Pollock should give up on him, but dedicated Irving Grundman as his successor, whereupon Bowman resigned in the summer of 1979 from his position as head coach of the Canadiens.
1979-1990: Unsuccessful years in Buffalo and commitment on TV
Bowman then went to the Buffalo Sabres, who committed him as a coach and general manager before the 1979/80 season. He led the Sabres in the regular season in first place of the Prince of Wales Conference against the Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs and reached the semi-finals, where they but the New York Islanders subject. After the season, Bowman gave the chance from as head coach Roger Neilson, but switched to the Vancouver Canucks after only one year. As the successor to a former assistant coach Jim Bowman's first Roberts was employed before he again took over as coach in 1982. In the following three years showed the Sabres good performance, even if they could not establish at the top of the league Bowman and they did not come in the playoffs on the second round also.
In the summer of 1985 Bowman Jim Schoenfeld appointed as head coach, but when the Sabres had won only 19 of 43 games and the qualification was at risk for the playoffs, Bowman again took over as coach. In the remainder of the season but it was not possible to lead the Sabres to a playoff place him. It what the only time in the NHL career of Scotty Bowman, that one of his team 's failure to qualify for the playoffs. At the beginning of the season 1986/87 he was still working as a coach of the Sabres, but after they had won only three of the first twelve season games, he resigned from his posts back as coach and general manager.
In 1987 he was engaged by the Canadian television station CBC as an analyst for Hockey Night in Canada.
1990-2002: more Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh and Detroit
In the summer of 1993, the Detroit Red Wings he committed as head coach and Bowman led the team right up to the top of the Western Conference, but had a firm favorite suffered a surprising first-round defeat in the playoffs against the San Jose Sharks.
Bowman presented in the following years with players such as Nicklas Lidstrom, Larry Murphy, Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Fedorov to the Russian Five Vyacheslav Fetisov and a good mix of North American and European players, which should lead to success. In addition, Bowman was responsible, that the hitherto almost exclusively offensive -playing team captain Steve Yzerman his game hosted clearly defensive.
In 1995, Bowman the Detroit Red Wings to the first finals for the Stanley Cup in 29 years, however, where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in four games. A further step to great success made the Red Wings in the 1995/96 season, as they during the regular season thus celebrated 62 victories us the 19-year -old record of time served by Bowman Canadiens exceeded. However, they failed in the Western Conference Finals to the Colorado Avalanche. After the still fairly successful year the Jack Adams Award Bowman received for the second time in his career as the best coach in the NHL.
During the regular season 1996/ 97, the Red Wings could not build on the achievements of the previous year and won only 38 of the 82 season games. In the playoffs, the team found but back to old form and pulled again into the Conference Finals against Colorado, where they were this time victorious. In the final, they eventually defeated the Philadelphia Flyers and the Red Wings thus won for the first time in 42 years the Stanley Cup. The following year, Bowman and the Red Wings managed to successfully defend the title.
Although Detroit conditionally were among the favorite teams by the successes in the following years and in the regular season and always lay on the top of the NHL, the team came in three consecutive seasons not go beyond the second playoff round.
2001/ 02 reached the Red Wings for the first time in six years, the mark of 50 wins in one season and led the league with 15 points clear lead over the Boston Bruins on. In the playoffs, the team was this time also her role as favorite. After victories over Vancouver, St. Louis and Colorado, the Red Wings met in the finals to the Carolina Hurricanes. While the first game of the final series, the Hurricanes decided for themselves, but Detroit was another defeat for and won after five games the Stanley Cup. During the celebrations on the ice after the fifth game of the series, the end of his coaching career Bowman officially announced.
Since 2002: commitment after the coaching career
Scotty Bowman was the organization of the Detroit Red Wings but continue to receive as a consultant. In this position, he also worked closely with coach Mike Babcock, who in 2008 led the team to another Stanley Cup victory and Bowman helped to his total eleventh Stanley Cup ring.
In autumn 2007, Bowman was the post of president of the Toronto Maple Leafs offered what Bowman was also interested, but the president of the operating company of the Maple Leafs rejected him in this office. In July 2008, Bowman joined as a consultant to the Chicago Blackhawks, in which his son, Stan Bowman, meanwhile, is working as a General Manager. Together, they were able in 2010 to celebrate the first Stanley Cup victory of the team for 49 years.
In addition, Bowman is currently a member of the Committee of the Hockey Hall of Fame, which determines the new additions to the Hall of Fame ice hockey every year.