Bowness Is Fired as Coach by NHL’s Bruins

Rick Bowness was fired Monday as coach of the Boston Bruins after a rookie season during which he took the team to the Stanley Cup semifinals.

His predecessor, Mike Milbury, might get the job back.

The Bruins had considered firing Bowness two or three other times, General Manager Harry Sinden said, but they finished the regular season strongly and won their first two playoff series.

Sinden praised Bowness as well-organized and hard-working with an ability to assess talent. However, Sinden said, Bowness lacked some “instinctive things” that are difficult to define.

“Other than that kind of a slippery ingredient (that’s) tough to put your hand on, we felt that Rick did a good job,” he said. “There’s an element and an instinct in coaching that come to few, and we hope that we can find that in whomever we select. I happen to think that Mike Milbury has that instinctive quality, and there are others that have it.”

After two seasons as Bruin coach, Milbury left the job voluntarily to become assistant general manager. Bowness, 37, was promoted from the Bruins’ minor league team in Maine, where he had coached for two seasons.