Richard (Rick) Gary Bowness was born January 25, 1955, in Moncton, New Brunswick and was raised in Fairview, Nova Scotia. As a player, Bowness skated in the NHL with Atlanta, Detroit, St. Louis, and Winnipeg over a span of seven years, beginning in 1975 for a total of seven seasons and 173 games.

During his nine-year professional career, he also saw action with Nova Scotia, Tulsa, Salt Lake, and Sherbrooke of the American and Central Leagues. Sherbrooke was his final stop as a player and it was also where his coaching career began. After serving as a player/coach with the Sherbrooke Jets for a year, Bowness retired as a player in 1983 to return to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets.

In 1987-1988, Bowness was appointed coach and general manager of the Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate in Moncton. His first head coaching opportunity came the following year when he was reassigned to Winnipeg to coach the final one-third of the season. The Boston Bruins came calling during the off-season and Bowness was hired to coach their AHL farm team in Maine.

After two years behind the bench with the Maine Mariners, Rick Bowness was named head coach of the Bruins in June of 1991. He had coached his 250th NHL game on February 10, 1994, before he landed the title of associate coach with the New York Islanders in 1996. Commenting on his involvement with hockey, Bowness says, “ I was born with a love of the game.”