{"id":553478,"date":"2026-04-15T23:33:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/553478\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T23:33:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T23:33:34","slug":"blue-jackets-echo-bownesss-frustration-with-late-season-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/553478\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jackets echo Bowness’s frustration with late-season collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 For the second time in four seasons, Rick Bowness had a front-row seat to one of his teams collapsing down the stretch and ending the season with disappointment.<\/p>\n

And once again, Bowness did not hold back on his opinions as they enter the offseason.<\/p>\n

Bowness\u2019s three-minute rant after the\u00a0Blue Jackets\u2019 2-1 season-ending loss\u00a0to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night remained fresh in players\u2019 minds on Wednesday as they went through end-of-season meetings.<\/p>\n

Bowness said he should have voiced frustration a couple of weeks earlier. Had he done so, the Blue Jackets might have reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020. Instead, after posting a 3-9-1 record in their final stretch, they fell just a few points short.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys, they don\u2019t care. Losing is not important enough to them. It doesn\u2019t bother them. How can you go out and play like that?\u201d Bowness said post-game. \u201cThis is why we\u2019re out of the playoffs. That kind of effort. You have to hate losing. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a meaningless game. Show up and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we are where we are. This is why we\u2019re out of the playoffs, that kind of effort,\u201d Bowness said Tuesday night. \u201cYou have to hate losing. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a meaningless game. Show up and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Jackets were in last place in the Eastern Conference when Bowness replaced Dean Evason\u00a0as coach on Jan. 12. They went 18-2-4 in Bowness\u2019s first 24 games and moved into a playoff spot after collecting a point in 12 straight games.<\/p>\n

But when the regular season reached its critical final stretch, Columbus reverted to early season form, including tying a franchise record with six consecutive home losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all frustrated, and the fans are too. We were in a good spot and weren\u2019t good enough down the stretch. That\u2019s on us. We have to own it and learn from it,\u201d team captain Boone Jenner<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Defenceman Zach Werenski<\/a> disagreed with Bowness\u2019s assessment that the players don\u2019t care or don\u2019t hate to lose, but also knew that the late-season collapse left everyone angry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a ton of respect for him. He loves us as players, and we love him as a coach,\u201d Werenski said. \u201cWe need to learn how to win, and he can help us with that. He\u2019s been around a long time and knows what it takes. We haven\u2019t done it enough \u2014 it\u2019s clear. But saying we don\u2019t care or don\u2019t hate to lose, I think that\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowness was more emotional this time than in 2023, when he criticized his Winnipeg Jets team after being eliminated by Vegas in the first playoff round.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so disappointed and disgusted right now, that\u2019s my thoughts,\u201d he said after the Jets\u2019 Game 5 loss. \u201cNo pushback. But it\u2019s the same crap we saw in February. It was. As soon as we were challenging for first place and teams were coming after us, we had no pushback.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to shifting the team\u2019s culture, the Blue Jackets must address their inability to protect late leads. Over the course of this season, they blew 21 third-period leads. The backbreaker came on March 29 against Boston when Columbus was up 3-0 through two periods and\u00a0lost 4-3 in a shootout.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to learn how to win and get over that hump. That\u2019s what our fans deserve, and we owe it to each other. It\u2019s a tough lesson and will be a long summer thinking about it,\u201d forward Adam Fantilli<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

President of Hockey Operations and GM Don Waddell has plenty of decisions to make during the offseason, including whether Bowness will return behind the bench.<\/p>\n

Centre Charlie Coyle and left wing Mason Marchment, along with Jenner, will be unrestricted free agents. Fantilli, the third overall pick in the 2023 draft, is a restricted free agent in line for a lucrative extension.<\/p>\n

Werenski led the team with 81 points and is among the favourites for the Norris Trophy as the league\u2019s top defenceman. He tied the franchise record in assists (59) and joined Brian Leetch and Phil Housley as the only American-born defenceman in NHL history to post consecutive 80-point seasons.<\/p>\n

If the 71-year-old Bowness is back, he knows the first thing he wants to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m back, we\u2019re changing this freaking culture,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been around long enough to know. I\u2019ll find ways. I\u2019ve got enough experience. I\u2019ve dealt with this. I\u2019ve dealt with it before. If we\u2019re back, we\u2019ll straighten it out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS, Ohio \u2014 For the second time in four seasons, Rick Bowness had a front-row seat to one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5108],"tags":[3644,5180,897,230,5179,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-553478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-columbus-blue-jackets","8":"tag-blue-jackets","9":"tag-bluejackets","10":"tag-columbus","11":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","12":"tag-columbusbluejackets","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116411341702791612","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}