Inside the NHL
Family tie brought Bowman to Blackhawks
Story tools:
Share this story:
Jockey Calvin Borel won the Kentucky Derby with Mine That Bird and a few weeks later captured the Preakness aboard Rachel Alexandra. Roger Clemens played for the Yankees after beginning his career with the Red Sox. Bills running back Thurman Thomas finished his career with the Dolphins.
Who says Scotty Bowman doesn’t belong with the Blackhawks?
Bowman won three Stanley Cups in nine seasons as coach of the Red Wings and another one last season, his sixth as an adviser with the team. If he didn’t leave his allegiance behind when he left for a similar gig with the Blackhawks, he certainly did when the two teams met this year in the Western Conference finals.
“Oh yeah,” Bowman said last week by telephone from the Windy City. “You know, things change. Last summer, when I decided to go to Chicago, if one of the features would be being in the conference finals, you would take it. It’s been a big transition, but it’s a lot of fun with these young guys.”
The Blackhawks haven’t played this deep into the season since 1995, when the Bowmancoached Red Wings beat them in the conference finals. Now, Bowman is offering whatever he can to the Blackhawks in hopes they can return the favor.
Bowman became senior adviser with the Blackhawks because it was an opportunity to work with his son, Stan, an assistant general manager for hockey operations. Stan Bowman underwent cell transplant surgery 14 months ago after battling Hodgkins lymphoma for the second time. The disease has since been in remission.
“It’s been a great experience,” Bowman said. “Not many people get that opportunity. It’s been a treat.”
Bowman, who still keeps his home in East Amherst, isn’t involved in daily operations. He spent part of the season watching games with Pat Burns, the former NHL coach and Devils scout who is battling cancer, while the two were in Florida. He stayed in Western New York for the first two games in Detroit.
At 75, he’s still sharp. His greatest contribution to the Blackhawks going into the series was granting entrance into the minds of the Red Wings. After all, he helped shape them and their coach, Mike Babcock. Fifteen others either played for him or were drafted when he was behind the bench.
Winger Marian Hossa and backup goaltender Ty Conklin were the only players on their roster with no connection to Bowman. He had stars Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg when they were pups. In turn, they helped mold other players. Bowman for years has been Babcock’s close friend and confidant.
“Scotty is a book of knowledge,” Babcock said. “No. 1, he’s got to be willing to share it with you. No. 2, you’ve got to want it.”
The Blackhawks were looking for any advantage they could find when General Manager Dale Tallon offered him a job. Bowman has been consulted in most major decisions, including one that resulted in Joel Quenneville replacing Denis Savard behind the bench four games into the season. It was a good decision.
Chicago is trying to find its way through the playoffs, much like Detroit when Bowman took over in 1993-95. Chicago is the NHL’s youngest team with nine players 23 years old or younger. Detroit was once in a similar position under Bowman, but now has the oldest team and is a perennial superpower.
“You’ve got to try to keep what you got,” Bowman said. “It’s not as easy to add players with the new [collective bargaining agreement]. It’s a phenomenal collection of young players. They have to keep getting better. There’s been a wave of excitement watching them get better. The trick will be keeping it going.”
Coyotes quandary
The Coyotes and the NHL are expected back in court this week after a judge sent them to mediation in hopes of figuring out whether owner Jerry Moyes or the league controls the team. In the likely case that the two sides can’t find a solution, it’s headed back to court for arguments next month.
It’s the latest chapter in BlackBerry co-founder Jim Balsillie’s attempt to pull the Coyotes from bankruptcy and relocate them to Hamilton, Ont. The league has argued that Moyes relinquished control in November, when he signed a loan agreement with the NHL, and shouldn’t have been thrown into bankruptcy in the first place.
The league for years has insisted that it determines where teams are located, and it has been clear about its intentions to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix. If the judge ultimately argues against them, it could change how team owners operate in North America and whether teams would be allowed to move without league permission.
Another ownership group based in Las Vegas has expressed interest in the franchise with the idea it would remain in Phoenix. Businessman John Breslow, who already owns a small percentage of the team, has put together a group that has told the NHL it would be prepared to put together a bid.
For what it’s worth, Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have sent letters to the NHL saying that moving the Coyotes to Hamilton would threaten the viability of the Sabres. Phil Esposito has joined NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, among others, in saying that the Coyotes should stay in Phoenix.
What a mess.
Recchi pays the price
Tough hockey players are one thing, Mark Recchi quite another. The veteran winger revealed after the Bruins were knocked out of the playoffs that he had been suffering from a broken rib—and kidney stones.
“I’d go through stretches where [the kidney stone] was really bad and I’d go through stretches where it was OK,” Recchi told the Boston Globe. “It just got to the point where it wasn’t going to [pass], so they had to go in and get it.”
Recchi, 41, suffered the rib injury in Game Four against the Hurricanes. He scored in the next two games, including the winner in Game Six. He had surgery for the kidney stones the night before Game Seven. He came back and played 21 minutes, 49 seconds.
“You wonder why guys like that win Stanley Cups,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “That’s a guy willing to do whatever it takes.”
Moore’s unlucky break
Another injury that wasn’t revealed until after the season came from Sabres forward Dominic Moore, who suffered a broken wrist shortly after he was acquired from the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline.
Moore didn’t realize his right wrist was broken until he visited a doctor after the season. He thought the pain in his wrist was related to a nerve problem he had earlier in his career until X-rays showed the break. He had a goal and three assists in 18 games with Buffalo.
“I stand behind my play in Buffalo, but my point production was down,” Moore said told the Toronto Star. “I’m not making any excuses. The biggest disappointment is we didn’t make the playoffs.”
bgleason@buffnews.com
Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.