Rick Bowness FUMING Over 2 Blue Jackets Players' Conditioning

The last we saw of Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness at the end of last season, it was one of the all-time epic press conference rants as he blasted his team for their disastrous finish to the season, missing the playoffs. 

Now he's back, and Bowness is still fuming. He's blasting two of his players for not being in ideal condition to start camp. 

#CBJ coach Rick Bowness said 2 players came to camp with sub-par conditioning, which pisses him off given the end-of-season meetings and summer conversations.

Bowness said those players are “saved by the (NHL’s) three-hour (training camp) rules.”

He would not name the players.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 17, 2026

As Jackets insider Aaron Portzline said, "Bowness said two players came to camp with sub-par conditioning, which pisses him off given the end-of-season meetings and summer conversations." The coach said that those two players (whom he refused to name) were lucky that they were “saved by the (NHL’s) three-hour (training camp) rules.” 

That rule states that team-mandated work—including on-ice practices, off-ice workouts, and meetings—are limited to a maximum of three hours per day during the opening days of training camp.

In other words, he would have loved to drive those two players in question a lot harder for a lot longer. 

'We'll take some steps to correct that': Bowness on players not in ideal condition

“Most of the guys are in great shape," Bowness said. "There are a couple of guys that I’m not happy with, and right now they’re protected by the three-hour rule. When the three-hour rule is up, then we’ll take some steps to correct that.

"It’s not just the correspondence at the end of the summer. It’s the meetings at the end of the season. We were very clear with what my expectations were. For me, that’s more important than the summer correspondence. End-of-the-year meetings, me and you sitting there talking — let’s be clear on the message. It’s not that bad, but it’s not where I want it to be. So we’ll fix it.”

And just in case you missed Bowness's viral rant at last season's exit interview, here it is again for your viewing pleasure: 

An emotional and angry Rick Bowness goes OFF on his #CBJ team after their 2-8-1 finish to the season: “These guys, they don’t care. Losing is not important enough to them … If I’m back, we’re changing this freaking culture.” pic.twitter.com/ZjBpaxhmPB

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) April 15, 2026

Clearly, getting in Bowness' doghouse this early will not make for an easy season in Columbus for players. 

The team is already facing a troublesome camp with star center Adam Fantilli not being around as contract talks continued for the unsigned RFA.