Rick Bowness will not coach tonight after scary incident

The Winnipeg Jets have announced that head coach Rick Bowness will not be behind the bench this evening for the Jets' game against the St. Louis Blues. Instead, assistant coach Scott Arniel will take over head coaching duties.

As stated by the Jets, Bowness recently recovered from a bout of COVID-19 but apparently hasn't fully recovered. 

Earlier today, Bowness had to cut short the team's media availability due to ongoing spells of dizziness.

More from Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg News:

Ouch... tough news for Bones.

Here's hoping he makes a full recovery and he gets back behind the bench as soon as possible. Luckily though, Arniel is an experienced coach who has the capability of running an NHL bench. 

The Jets are 2-3-0 to start the season, a very pivotal campaign for the team. While the Jets were seen as a darkhorse Stanley Cup contender a few seasons ago, the team has fallen both in the standings and in the public's consciousness the past few seasons. Longtime head coach Paul Maurice is out, longtime captain Blake Wheeler has been stripped of the "C" and the Jets are going to have to fight and claw their way into a playoff spot in the very competitive Central Division.

As for Bowness, it's his first year with the club following a good run with the Dallas Stars that was highlighted by a run to the Stanley Cup Final back in 2020. Frankly, me, you and everyone else in the hockey world thought that Maurice was going to be replaced with veteran NHL coach and Manitoba native Barry Trotz this past offseason, but that never came to be. Through no fault of his own, Bowness looks to be somewhat of a consolation prize for the Jets after striking out on Trotz.

Personally, I'm hoping that the Jets can put in a stellar campaign for their new coach. Bowness is a hockey lifer who has put in the time with seemingly every team in the NHL over a career that has spanned nearly four decades.