Thursday, February 26, 2004

Ugly start for Bowness

The Rick Bowness era in the desert is not off to a great start. Bowness who replaced Bobby Francis yesterday as coach of the Desert Dogs, watched his new charges lose to the lowest of the low, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Coyotes showed all the same traits for Bowness that got Francis fired, blowing a 3-1 lead going into the third, letting the Penguins get back into the flow of the game and to eventually win it 4-3 in Overtime. It was the first Pittsburgh victory since January 12th, a period of time in which they've been outscored 83-40.

For Phoenix it's more of the same, much to the chagrin of what few fans there are in Arizona. Bowness is to run out the string of the season with a team that has had it's starting goaltender traded away and made some other questionable moves. it's a team that shows no inclination to try and recapture the run they went on prior to the New Year.

Many thought that Bowness was given the reins as a form of audition for the job, if so it's off to a rocky start. The Gretzky led Coyotes organization have a number of old friends keeping in touch, rumours of a Barry Melrose or Marty McSorley, rejoining old pal Wayne come next season, if there is a next season.

For Bowness it's lame duck season, for his team it's the case of a lame dog wandering in the desert. For both, the end of the season can't come soon enough.

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