Bowman To Mentor Young Blackhawks

After helping the Detroit Red Wings win four Stanley Cups in 15 years, Scotty Bowman is taking up a new challenge with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Bowman was introduced Thursday in Chicago as the team’s senior adviser of hockey operations.

“The big reason (for the move) is because I can be a force for the team and I get to work with my son (Stan),” Bowman said.

“It’s a reason that doesn’t happen often in sports, but it’s happening here.”

Bowman’s son Stan is the Blackhawks director of hockey operations. Working for Chicago has the added bonus of allowing Bowman to be around his son more while he battles cancer.

Bowman’s other son, Bob, also lives in Chicago.

“This is a dream come true for me,” said Stan Bowman, who has thought about working with his dad in Chicago from the time he was hired eight years ago.

In luring Bowman away from the Wings, where he won three of those Cups as a coach in nine seasons before retiring to become consultant for Detroit, the Hawks are hoping to tap into some of the knowledge that has made Bowman the most successful coach in NHL history.

“When you bring Scotty Bowman on board, you’re bringing the face of winning,” said Blackhawks president John McDonough.

“I don’t think his record is matched by anyone with 11 Stanley Cups. It’s an elite class.

“We want to win, that’s what today represents - winning.”

Bowman, 74, is the winningest coach in NHL history, with 1,244 victories to his credit.

He has won nine Stanley Cups as a coach with the Montreal Canadiens (1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1979), the Pittsburgh Penguins (1992) and Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002). Bowman, who also won a Cup with the Penguins in 1991 when he was director of player development, and with the 2008 Wings, is a two-time winner of the Jack Adams Awards as the league’s top coach.

In 2,141 games behind the bench, Bowman has compiled a record of 1,244 wins, 584 losses, 313 ties/overtime losses. He also coached the St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Sabres.

Bowman, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991, said the move to Chicago will see him doing much the same kind of work he did for the Wings.

In Detroit, he pretty much set his own schedule as part of the Wings committee approach to their front office. He participated in everything from scouting to assessing trade proposals, but his biggest role as a consultant in Detroit was in being a mentor to coach Mike Babcock.

“What I can do best right now is watching players develop,” said Bowman.

“In the new NHL you draft players, sign free agents, but you have to develop your own players. I’ll work as hard as I can for the farm team in Rockford.

“I’ll be another set of eyes for (general manager) Dale (Tallon), (coach) Denis (Savard) and the organization. I’ll do what I did in Detroit.”

Tallon said he expects to speak with Bowman about things on a regular basis. He plans to fully tap into his knowledge on a variety of topics.

“We’ll rely on him in every aspect - coaching, drafting, trading,” said Tallon.

“We have a great relationship and I’ll be confiding in him daily.”

Wings general manager Ken Holland said the unusual circumstances of the Chicago opportunity made Bowman’s departure understandable.

“Scotty could have been here as long as I was here, we’d have loved to have him continue with us,” Holland said.

“This organization is indebted to Scotty for what he has done for us, taking us from a talented team to a championship team. He was a major part of the program.”

Holland added that Bowman never asked for more responsibility than he had. His relationship with the Wings was very informal and he didn’t even have a written contract.

“He’s earned the right to go to (Chicago),” Holland said. “I know going to be with his son is important for him

Source of article National Post: http://www.nationalpost.com/sports/story.html?id=693134