Scotty Bowman

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CanadaCanada  Scotty Bowman Ice hockey player
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1991
Scotty Bowman
Date of birth September 18, 1933
place of birth Montréal , Québec , Canada
position center
Career stations
1951-1952 Montréal Junior Canadiens
1952-1953 Montréal Junior Royals
1953-1954 Montréal Junior Canadiens

William Scott "Scotty" Bowman (born September 18, 1933 in Montréal , Québec , Canada ) is a former ice hockey player , coach and general manager. In the National Hockey League he coached the St. Louis Blues , Montréal Canadiens , Buffalo Sabers , Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings and won the Stanley Cup nine times as the team's head coach . He won another five Stanley Cups as an official. With 1,244 games won, Bowman is the most victorious coach in NHL history. He is currently a consultant with the Chicago Blackhawks .

Career

1951–1971: Beginning with the juniors and first successes in the NHL

Scotty Bowman began his career as a player in 1951 with the Montréal Junior Canadiens from the Canadian Junior League QJHL and played for the team for three years before a head injury ended his active career.

He then turned to the activity as a trainer and in 1956 was assistant trainer of the junior farm team of the Montréal Canadiens , the Ottawa Junior Canadiens . After one season Bowman was appointed head coach of the team put together by manager Sam Pollock and led them to win the Memorial Cup in the spring of 1958. After this success he moved to the TPT Petes in the Canadian Junior League OHA . In its first year, the team won the George Richardson Memorial Trophy as the best team from Eastern Canada, but failed in the final of the Memorial Cup to the master of the west, the Winnipeg Braves .

Bowman trained the Petes for another two seasons, but did not achieve any other notable successes. In the summer of 1962, he took over a senior team for the first time when he coached the Hull-Ottawa Senators from the EPHL , three years earlier had merged with Bowman's former team, the Ottawa Junior Canadiens. However, the league was dissolved in 1963 and so were the Senators.

In the 1963/64 season he then briefly trained the Omaha Knights from the CPHL , before he was active for the remainder of the season at the Montréal Notre Dame de Grace Monarchs in QJHL. In 1964, Bowman took over the coaching position of the Montréal Junior Canadiens from the youth league OHA and worked there for two years.

In 1967, the St. Louis Blues hired him as an assistant coach, who were accepted as one of a total of six new teams in the NHL . But head coach Lynn Patrick gave up his post after 16 games and only four wins and Bowman was his successor. Under his leadership, the Blues were still able to qualify for the playoffs and moved there to the final of the Stanley Cup , but failed there against the Montreal Canadiens. Bowman also took over the post of general manager of Patrick in the summer of 1968 and St. Louis was the dominant team in the West Division for the next two years and finished the regular season in both years with a clear lead in first place. They also reached the Stanley Cup final again in both seasons, but had to admit defeat both times.

In the fall of 1970, Bowman gave up the coaching post to Al Arbor , who had recently been team captain of the Blues and had ended his career. After he had trained the team for 50 games in the 1970/71 season , Arbor returned but again on the ice and Bowman took over the post as coach again. After the season, however, there were disagreements between him and the team owners, whereupon Bowman left the Blues.

1971–1979: The Montréal Canadiens dynasty

Only a little later, Bowman was hired as a coach by the Montréal Canadiens, which had been led for seven years by Sam Pollock as general manager, who had already worked with Bowman at the Ottawa Junior Canadiens. Together they integrated young players such as Guy Lafleur , Ken Dryden , Steve Shutt , Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey into the team in the following years , who quickly developed into important pillars of the Canadiens and after the end of their careers into the Hockey Hall of Fame were recorded.

In Bowman's first season in 1971/72 , the Canadiens set the franchise record of 46 wins, but failed in the first round of the playoffs. However, the record was clearly exceeded the following year with 52 successes and Montréal led the league by the end of the regular season. In the playoffs they continued their good performances this time and finally won the Stanley Cup final against the Chicago Blackhawks after successful series against the Buffalo Sabers and the Philadelphia Flyers .

This was followed by 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 their dominance in the NHL. With 58 wins, the franchise set a new league record and ended the regular season at the top of the league. The team also showed their strength in the playoffs and had to admit defeat in only one of 13 games on the way to the Stanley Cup victory. In 1976/77 , the Canadiens, led by Bowman, improved their record from the previous year to 60 wins within a season, which should last for 19 years. Without major difficulties, the team moved back into the Stanley Cup final and won there against the Boston Bruins without losing a game of the series. After the second Stanley Cup win in a row, Bowman was also honored with the Jack Adams Award for best coach in the NHL.

The Montréal Canadiens continued their success in the 1977/78 season and were again the best team at the end of the regular season with 16 points ahead of the Boston Bruins. After victories in the first two playoffs over the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs , the Canadiens faced the Boston Bruins in the final of the Stanley Cup, as they did last year. But this time Montréal could not win the series without defeat. Instead it was 2-2 after four games, but the Canadiens won the following two games in the series and thus also the Stanley Cup.

In the 1978/79 season , the dominance of the franchise seemed to wane. The Canadiens continued to occupy the undisputed first place in the Prince of Wales Conference , but the New York Islanders from the Clarence Campbell Conference were at the top of the NHL with one point ahead of Montréal at the end of the regular season. Also in the playoffs, the Canadiens presented themselves a little weaker than in the previous three seasons. As in the previous two years, the Canadiens met the Boston Bruins again, but this time in the semi-finals and a very competitive series developed. Montréal led 3-2 after five games, but Boston equalized the series with a win in the sixth game. In the decisive seventh game, after 60 minutes of playing time, no winner was found after Montréal through Guy Lafleur could only equalize to 4: 4 within the last two minutes of regular time. In extra time, the Canadiens finally won and defeated the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup final to win the championship trophy for the fourth time in a row.

The Canadiens team owners promised Scotty Bowman the post of general manager a few years earlier, should Sam Pollock resign , but hired Irving Grundman as his successor, whereupon Bowman resigned as head coach of the Canadiens in the summer of 1979.

1979–1990: Unsuccessful years in Buffalo and involvement in television

Bowman then went to the Buffalo Sabers, who hired him as a coach and general manager before the 1979/80 season . He led the Sabers in the regular season to first place in the Prince of Wales Conference before the Montréal Canadiens and reached the semi-finals in the playoffs, where they were subject to the New York Islanders. After the season, Bowman gave up the post as head coach to Roger Neilson , who moved to the Vancouver Canucks after just one year . As a successor, Bowman's former assistant coach Jim Roberts was first used before he took over the coaching position again in 1982. In the following three years, the Sabers showed good performance, even if they could not establish Bowman at the top of the league and they did not get in the playoffs beyond the second round.

In the summer of 1985 Bowman appointed Jim Schoenfeld as head coach, but when the Sabers had only won 19 of 43 games and qualification for the playoffs was in jeopardy, Bowman took over the coaching again. During the rest of the season he did not succeed in leading the Sabers to a playoff place. It was the only time in Scotty Bowman's NHL career that one of his teams failed to qualify for the playoffs. At the beginning of the 1986/87 season he continued to coach the Sabers, but after they had won only three of the first twelve games of the season, he resigned from his posts as coach and general manager.

In 1987 the Canadian television station CBC hired him as an analyst for Hockey Night in Canada .

1990–2002: Further Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh and Detroit

After more than three years, Bowman returned to the ice hockey business in 1990 and became Director of Player Development at the Pittsburgh Penguins . In this post he mainly oversaw the development of the players within the organization. In the summer of 1991, the Penguins won their first Stanley Cup, and Bowman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for his services as a coach . After Pittsburgh coach Bob Johnson was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after the Stanley Cup triumph, Bowman took over as coach and led the team to successfully defend their title in the 1991/92 season . In the following season Bowman set a new franchise record for the Penguins with 56 wins and a new NHL record with 17 wins in a row, but in the playoffs they failed in the second round against the New York Islanders.

In the summer of 1993, the Detroit Red Wings signed him as head coach and Bowman led the team straight to the top of the Western Conference , but had to accept a surprising first-round defeat in the playoffs against the San Jose Sharks as the clear favorite .

In the following years, Bowman created a good mix of North American and European players with players such as Nicklas Lidström , Larry Murphy , Steve Yzerman , Brendan Shanahan and the Russian Five around Sergei Fyodorow and Vyacheslav Fetissow , which should lead to success. In addition, Bowman was partly responsible for the fact that the team captain Steve Yzerman, who until then had played almost exclusively offensively, made his game much more defensive.

In 1995 , Bowman led the Detroit Red Wings to their first appearance in the final for the Stanley Cup in 29 years, but where they lost to the New Jersey Devils in four games. The Red Wings took another step towards great success in the 1995/96 season when they celebrated 62 victories during the regular season and thus exceeded the 19-year-old record of the Canadiens, which Bowman looked after at the time. However, they failed in the final of the Western Conference at the Colorado Avalanche . After a very successful year, Bowman received the Jack Adams Award for the NHL's best coach for the second time in his career.

During the regular season 1996/97 the Red Wings could not build on the performances of the previous year and won only 38 of the 82 season games. In the playoffs, however, the team found their way back to their old form and moved into the conference final against Colorado, where they were victorious this time. In the final, they eventually beat the Philadelphia Flyers and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 42 years. The following year Bowman and the Red Wings successfully defended their title.

Although Detroit was one of the favored teams due to the successes in the following years and was also always at the top of the NHL in the regular season, the team did not get beyond the second playoff round in three consecutive seasons.

2001/02 the Red Wings reached the mark of 50 victories within one season for the first time in six years and led the league clearly with 15 points ahead of the Boston Bruins. In the playoffs, the team lived up to their role as favorites this time. After victories over Vancouver, St. Louis and Colorado, the Red Wings met the Carolina Hurricanes in the final . The first game of the final series won the Hurricanes, but Detroit did not allow any further defeat and won the Stanley Cup after five games. Bowman officially announced the end of his coaching career during the on-ice celebrations after the fifth game in the series.

Since 2002: Engagement after the coaching career

Scotty Bowman stayed with the Detroit Red Wings organization as a consultant. In this position he also worked closely with coach Mike Babcock , who led the team to another Stanley Cup win in 2008 and helped Bowman to his eleventh Stanley Cup ring .

In the fall of 2007 Bowman was offered the post of president of the Toronto Maple Leafs, which Bowman was also interested, but the chairman of the operating company of the Maple Leafs turned him down in this office. In July 2008, Bowman joined the Chicago Blackhawks as a consultant , where his son, Stan Bowman , is now general manager. Together they celebrated the team's first Stanley Cup victory in 49 years in 2010 , followed by two more championships in 2013 and 2015 .

Bowman is also currently a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Committee, which determines the new entrants to the ice hockey hall of fame each year.

Achievements and Awards

As a trainer

As a functionary

  • 1991 Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins (as Director of Player Development)
  • 2008 Stanley Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings (as a consultant)
  • 2010 Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks (as a consultant)
  • 2013 Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks (as a consultant)
  • 2015 Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks (as a consultant)

Career statistics

As a trainer

Regular season Playoffs
season team league GC W. L. T OTL Pts Win% GC W. L. result
1956-1957 Ottawa Junior Canadiens - Assistant coach under Sam Pollock
1957-1958 Ottawa Junior Canadiens - 36 15th 20th 1 - 31 .431 Memorial Cup
1958-1959 TPT Pete's OHA 54 29 20th 5 - 63 .583 3 3 0 J. Ross Robertson Cup
1959-1960 TPT Pete's OHA 48 22nd 23 3 - 47 .490 2 1 1 Semifinals
1960-1961 TPT Pete's OHA 48 16 24 8th - 40 .417 1 0 1 Quarter finals
1961–1962 without contract - - - - - - - - - - -
1962-1963 Omaha Knights EPHL 8th 8th 0 0 - 16 1,000 - - - -
Montréal Notre Dame de Grace Monarchs QJHL
1964-1965 Montréal Junior Canadiens OHA 56 20th 28 8th - 48 0.429 1 0 1 Quarter finals
1965-1966 Montréal Junior Canadiens OHA 48 24 15th 9 - 57 0.594 2 1 1 Semifinals
1966-1967 without contract - - - - - - - - - - -
1967-1968 St. Louis Blues NHL Assistant coach under Lynn Patrick
St. Louis Blues NHL 58 23 21st 14th - 60 0.517 18th 8th 10 Stanley Cup Final
1968-1969 St. Louis Blues NHL 76 37 25th 14th - 88 0.579 12 8th 4th Stanley Cup Final
1969-1970 St. Louis Blues NHL 76 37 27 12 - 86 0.566 16 8th 8th Stanley Cup Final
1970-1971 St. Louis Blues NHL 28 13 10 5 - 31 0.554 6th 2 4th Quarter finals
1971-1972 Montréal Canadiens NHL 78 46 16 16 - 108 0.692 6th 2 4th Quarter finals
1972-1973 Montréal Canadiens NHL 78 52 10 16 - 120 0.769 17th 12 5 Stanley Cup
1973-1974 Montréal Canadiens NHL 78 45 24 9 - 99 0.635 6th 2 4th Quarter finals
1974-1975 Montréal Canadiens NHL 80 47 14th 19th - 113 0.706 11 6th 5 Semifinals
1975-1976 Montréal Canadiens NHL 80 58 11 11 - 127 0.794 13 12 1 Stanley Cup
1976-1977 Montréal Canadiens NHL 80 60 8th 12 - 132 0.825 14th 12 2 Stanley Cup
1977-1988 Montréal Canadiens NHL 80 59 10 11 - 129 0.806 15th 12 3 Stanley Cup
1978-1979 Montréal Canadiens NHL 80 52 17th 11 - 115 0.719 16 12 4th Stanley Cup
1979-1980 Buffalo Sabers NHL 80 47 17th 16 - 110 0.688 13 8th 4th Semifinals
1980-1981 Buffalo Sabers NHL active as general manager
1981-1982 Buffalo Sabers NHL 35 18th 10 7th - 43 0.614 4th 1 3 Division semifinals
1982-1983 Buffalo Sabers NHL 80 38 29 13 - 89 0.556 10 6th 4th Division finals
1983-1984 Buffalo Sabers NHL 80 48 25th 7th - 103 0.644 3 0 3 Division semifinals
1984-1985 Buffalo Sabers NHL 80 38 28 14th - 90 0.562 5 2 3 Division semifinals
1985-1986 Buffalo Sabers NHL 37 18th 18th 1 - 37 0.500 - - - -
1986-1987 Buffalo Sabers NHL 12 3 7th 2 - 8th 0.333 - - - -
1987-1988 without contract - - - - - - - - - - -
1988-1989 without contract - - - - - - - - - - -
1989-1990 without contract - - - - - - - - - - -
1990-1991 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL active as Director of Player Development
1991-1992 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 80 39 32 9 - 87 0.544 21st 16 5 Stanley Cup
1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 84 56 21st 7th - 119 0.708 12 7th 5 Division finals
1993-1994 Detroit Red Wings NHL 84 46 30th 8th - 100 0.595 7th 3 4th Conference quarterfinals
1994-1995 Detroit Red Wings NHL 48 33 11 4th - 70 0.729 18th 12 6th Stanley Cup Final
1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 62 13 7th - 131 0.799 19th 10 9 Conference finals
1996-1997 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 38 26th 18th - 94 0.573 20th 16 4th Stanley Cup
1997-1998 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 44 23 15th - 103 0.628 22nd 16 6th Stanley Cup
1998-1999 Detroit Red Wings NHL 77 39 31 7th - 85 0.551 10 6th 4th Conference semifinals
1999-00 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 48 22nd 10 2 108 0.659 9 5 4th Conference semifinals
2000-2001 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 49 20th 9 4th 111 0.677 6th 2 4th Conference quarterfinals
2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings NHL 82 51 17th 10 4th 116 0.707 23 16 7th Stanley Cup
OHA total 254 111 110 33 - 255 0.502 9 5 4th 5 participations
EPHL overall 8th 8th 0 0 - 16 1,000 0 0 0 0 participations
NHL overall 2141 1244 584 303 10 2791 0.652 352 222 130 28 participations

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bowman, Scotty
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bowman, William Scott
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian ice hockey player, coach and general manager
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Montréal , Québec , Canada