Scotty Bowman
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William Scott "Scotty" Bowman (b. September 18, 1933 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a former National Hockey League head coach, considered among the greatest coaches in NHL history.
Bowman became the league's most successful coach over his 30 years of coaching with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the playoffs. He won a record 9 Stanley Cups with Montreal Canadiens (1973,1976-1979), Pittsburgh Penguins (1992) and Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998 and 2002). He won the Jack Adams Award in 1977 and 1996. In the 1976-1977 season he won a record 60 games then, in 1996, won 62, breaking his own record for regular season wins.
Bowman played minor league hockey until a head injury ended his playing career. He moved into a coaching job with the Canadiens junior team then Bowman broke into the NHL in 1966 when he became the head coach of the first-year expansion team St. Louis Blues. He led the Blues to the Stanley Cup Finals in the first three consecutive years of the franchise. He coached in St. Louis until the end of the 1970-1971 season (his first NHL season with a losing record), and became the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens after the firing of Canadiens head coach Al MacNeil. It was with the Montreal Canadiens that he had his most success, as his new team lost in the first round of the playoffs in 1972 but won the Stanley Cup in 1973. The Canadiens would make the playoffs over the next two seasons but bow out in the first and third rounds, respectively as the rival Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup. From 1976 to 1979, he led a talented Canadiens squad, with players like Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt and Ken Dryden, to four consecutive Stanley Cups. Bowman's team won at least 45 games in each of his eight seasons as the Canadiens head coach.
The dynasty in Montreal ended as Bowman stepped down as head coach to become the new General Manager and head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. After failing to turn the Sabres into the winner he had in Montreal, he quit hockey temporarily in 1987 to become an analyst for the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. He became the Director of Player Personnel of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame that year as a builder.
Bowman was thrust back into the head coaching duties in the Fall of 1991, after the untimely death of Bob Johnson, who had just won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins the previous season. The following playoffs in 1993, the Penguins were upset by the New York Islanders, after acquiring the regular season's best record. Bowman then became head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.
The following season saw his Red Wings defeated by the young San Jose Sharks. In 1995, the Red Wings made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but were swept by the New Jersey Devils in four straight. This was the Red Wings' first appearance in the Finals in 29 years. In the 1995-1996 regular season, he won a record 62 games. However, they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs third round. In the 1997 playoffs, Bowman led the team to its first Stanley Cup in 42 years by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0. In 1999. They were upset by the Colorado Avalanche in the semi-finals.
Bowman decided in February 2002 that he would retire at the end of the season and he went out as a winner as his Red Wings won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. It was after the presentation of the Cup on the ice by Commissioner Bettman that Bowman publicly announced his retirement.
| Preceded by: Lynn Patrick | Head Coaches of the St. Louis Blues 1968–1970 | Succeeded by: Al Arbour |
| Preceded by: Al Arbour | Head Coaches of the St. Louis Blues 1971 | Succeeded by: Sid Abel |
| Preceded by: Al MacNeil | Head Coaches of the Montreal Canadiens 1971–1979 | Succeeded by: Bernie Geoffrion |
| Preceded by: Billy Inglis | Head Coaches of the Buffalo Sabres 1979-1980 | Succeeded by: Roger Neilson |
| Preceded by: Roger Neilson | Head Coaches of the Buffalo Sabres 1981 | Succeeded by: Jim Roberts |
| Preceded by: Jim Roberts | Head Coaches of the Buffalo Sabres 1982-1985 | Succeeded by: Jim Schoenfeld |
| Preceded by: Jim Schoenfeld | Head Coaches of the Buffalo Sabres 1986 | Succeeded by: Craig Ramsay |
| Preceded by: Bob Johnson | Head Coaches of the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991–1993 | Succeeded by: Eddie Johnston |
| Preceded by: Brian Murray | Head Coaches of the Detroit Red Wings 1993–2002 | Succeeded by: Dave Lewis |