MANALAPAN, Fla. -- Don Waddell went to bed on Jan. 12 knowing he wanted to make a coaching change. He made a list with five names.
The Columbus Blue Jackets general manager woke up at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 13, hours before he was scheduled to meet with and inform ownership about his plan to replace former coach Dean Evason and thought of a sixth name.
“I woke up thinking Rick Bowness,” Waddell said on this week’s episode of the “NHL @TheRink” podcast.
One problem.
“I hadn’t talked to him or anything,” Waddell said. “So, I didn’t call him. I waited until I went and met with ownership, and once I met with ownership and Mike Priest, my boss, and said, ‘You know, this is what I recommend.’ They said, ‘Well, who are you going to replace him with?’ I said, ‘Give me a couple hours, I don’t have that yet.’”
Waddell called Bowness when he finished with the meeting, and, as it’s well known now, reached him while he was on his boat with his wife Judy near their Florida home.
After some small talk, Waddell asked Bowness if he missed coaching. When he heard, ‘Yes,’ he asked the 70-year-old coaching lifer if wanted to return.
“He goes, ‘For sure, but give me 10 minutes, let me talk to my wife,’” Waddell said. “He called me back in two minutes and said, ‘We’re all in.’ That’s how fast it happened and we’re very lucky for it.”
The Blue Jackets are 16-2-4 in 22 games since Bowness coached his first game on Jan. 13, including a 5-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. They have climbed the standings and are one point back of a wild card in the Eastern Conference, and two points behind for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Their .818 points percentage is the best in the League since Jan. 13. They’re scoring 3.64 goals per game and allowing 2.55 with a power play that is clicking at 25.0 percent and a penalty kill at 80.7 percent.
“When I went to ownership I said, ‘I can’t guarantee you wins and losses -- let’s see how things go -- but I know one thing, what Rick will bring to the table is something we need with communication with the players and making our young players better,’” Waddell said. “So, that was the way I approached it and obviously it’s worked out pretty well so far.”
Listen to the latest episode of the “NHL @TheRink” podcast for more from Waddell on Bowness, the Blue Jackets’ rise under the coach, why he acquired forward Conor Garland before the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, and some thoughts on the subjects being discussed at the NHL General Managers meetings
In addition, co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke breakdown the playoff races in each conference, detail the impact of Leon Draisaitl’s lower-body injury that will keep him out of the Edmonton Oilers lineup for the remainder of the regular season, discuss some of the storylines coming out of the GM meetings and go over New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer’s successful first game in Toronto in front of a large gathering of friends and family.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
