Blue Jackets’ Rick Bowness misses game with illness

The Columbus Blue Jackets were without their head coach for Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as Rick Bowness missed the match due to an illness.

Bowness had missed the team’s morning skate earlier on Thursday, with the Blue Jackets confirmed that it was due to an illness. His status wasn’t confirmed for the game, but the team announced a half hour before puck drop that he would miss the game.

With Bowness absent, assistant coach Don Granato assumed the lead role on the staff. Granato has some experience as a head coach, as he was the bench boss for four seasons with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021 to 2024. In 274 games with the Sabres, he had a 122-125-27 record, with the team failing to make the playoffs in all four seasons of his tenure.

The Blue Jackets are certainly used to having a new face leading the coaching staff, as Bowness has been the team’s fifth head coach in just over three years, with Brad Larsen, Mike Babcock, Pascal Vincent and Dean Evason also working in the role in that time. In the team’s first 20 seasons prior to Larsen’s hiring in 2021, they had only had seven head coaches in franchise history.

Bowness is in his second season (and first full season) with the Blue Jackets after he was hired on January 12th, 2026. In his 53 games with the team, they have a 28-20-5 record, with their .575 points percentage ranking 17th in the league in that span.

At 71 years old, Bowness is the oldest head coach in the NHL. He hold the distinction of being the only head coach to operate behind the bench in five different decades, with his first season coming in 1988-89 with the original Winnipeg Jets. With an all-time coaching record of 338-428-48-42, he is tied with Michel Bergeron for the 54th most wins as a head coach.