James Guillory-Imagn Images
Blue Jackets fans endured a roller coaster during a season where the team staged an impressive turnaround after firing their head coach only to miss the playoffs after they fell apart down the home stretch. Head coach Rick Bowness got the chance to reflect on that brutal finish after their final game, and he did not mince words while going scorched earth on his players.
The Columbus Blue Jackets headed into the season riding a five-year playoff drought, and all signs point to that number rising to six based on how things unfolded after it got underway. The team was able to get off to a 7-4 start before things took a turn for the worse, and they were sitting in the basement of the Eastern Conference with a 19-19-7 record when Dean Evason was fired midway through his second season as head coach in the middle of January.
He was replaced by Rick Bowness, who managed to inject some new life into the locker room when he arrived in Ohio’s capital city. The Blue Jackets headed into the Winter Olympics break riding a seven-game winning streak, and by the time March 22nd rolled around, MoneyPuck gave them an 84.7% chance of making the playoffs.
However, that number fell to zero when they were officially eliminated from the postseason on Monday night shortly after snapping a six-game skid that caused their odds to plummet.
The team had nothing to play for but pride when they ended their season with a loss to the Capitals on Tuesday night, and Bowness let them hear it during the emotional rant he fired off after the game.
Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness tore into the team for failing to compete after missing the playoffs: “You have to hate losing”
Washington was also eliminated from playoff contention heading into what may have been Alexander Ovechkin’s final NHL game, but they ended the season on a high note with a 2-1 victory.
Columbus managed to outshoot them, but the Blue Jackets had 23 giveaways to their opponent’s 13 while recording just three hits in a contest where the Capitals delivered 14.
Bowness used those last two stats to highlight the team’s shortcomings in a postgame press conference where he needed to take some time to compose himself before answering a question about whether this is the most frustrating experience he’s had to endure as a coach, which sparked a fiery rant.
Rick Bowness furious following the 2-1 loss to Washington.
The Blue Jackets finish the season losing six straight at home, barely missing the playoffs, more tonight @nbc4i #CBJ pic.twitter.com/o7We2CEmTY
— Joe Nugent (@joenuge) April 15, 2026
This is one of those situations where you really need to watch the video to understand how mad someone is, but Bowness went off on the team, saying,
“I don’t know if I’m back [next season], but if I’m back, I’m changing this culture.
These guys, they don’t care. Lossing is not important enough to them. It doesn’t bother them. How can you go out and play like that? I should have done this about a month ago, but this is why we are where we are. This is why we’re out of the playoffs. That kind of effort.
You have to hate losing. I don’t care if it’s a meaningless game. I don’t care. Show up and compete.”
We’ll have to wait and see if Bowness is invited back for another ride, but it sounds like the squad will be getting hit with a wake-up call if that ends up being the case.