- Judy suffered the seizure on Sunday night and, as of Monday, was in the hospital
- Associate coach Scott Arniel will take over head coaching duties in his stead
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Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness took a leave of absence from the team after his wife suffered a seizure Sunday night, the team said in a statement Monday.
Associate coach Scott Arniel will serve as interim head coach until Bowness returns, the team said.
The team said Judy Bowness is in the hospital undergoing further testing. No additional details were provided.
In a statement released on Monday, the Jets revealed that Judy suffered the seizure on Sunday evening.
‘We ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy at this time,’ the team’s PR Twitter account posted.
Rick Bowness (R) is taking a leave of absence after his wife Judy (L) suffered a seizure Sunday
In his absence, associate coach Scott Arniel will be taking charge behind the bench
Bowness, one of the league’s longest tenured coaches, has been with the Jets since 2022
In an interview on Monday, Arniel wished Bowness well and stayed committed to focusing on their next game.
‘Obviously our thoughts and prayers go to Judy and Rick and very serious tough time for them right now,’ he told reporters.
‘We’ll just wait and go day to day with this, see obviously how she progresses, see how Rick’s doing. But everybody’s certainly feeling that it’s part family here and it’s a big part of what we talk about all the time and obviously it really hits everybody hard.’
He added, ‘Things happen. And we had a little bit with Rick last year and so we’ve been through it as a group, but at the same time you just feel for them.
‘And the big thing about our group is that it’s about making sure that we don’t let Rick down here, that we go out and play tomorrow, like we need to play for him and do everything we can to get him two points.’
Bowness, one of the longest tenured coaches in the National Hockey League, has coached 721 games in his career that dates back to 1988.
He’s been with this incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets since 2022, putting up a record of 46-33 in his first season.
Bowness missed a chunk of games last season as he battled a bout of Covid-19.
Winnipeg, which is off to a 2-3 start this season, hosts St. Louis on Tuesday.