Jets’ Bowness Excited to Return To The Bench, Praises Arniel

Prior to his first game back, he spoke about his time away from the team.

“Judy Is Doing About As Well As We Could Expect” — Bowness

Bowness stepped away from the Jets on Oct. 23 after Judy suffered a seizure. He said her condition is improving thanks to medication.

“I’m a little more comfortable leaving her alone for a couple hours to come to practice,” he said, adding that when he’s on the road, she will spend time with their kids.

“She’s getting stronger every day and (doing) about as good as we can expect at this point. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone for a couple of hours,” he continued.

“As you go through life, there are always life-changing moments and that was certainly a life-changing moment for us,” the 68-year-old veteran coach said.

Bowness Said Coaching Staff and Players Did a “Fantastic Job,” Thanks Front Office

Associate coach Scott Arniel took over as interim head coach in Bowness’ absence and led the team to a 9-2-2 record in 13 games. The Jets, winners of seven of nine games in November heading into the matchup against the Panthers, have gotten balanced scoring from throughout their lineup and have excelled at five-on-five.

Bowness said he and Arniel talked every day and he watched every game to send Arniel his comments, but complimented Arniel and the entire Jets’ coaching staff for taking the reins.

“Our coaches did a fantastic job, they really did,” Bowness said. “They kept this team very very well prepared, everything we put into place during training camp they were staying on top of those details… they’ve done a fantastic job, as have our players. This is not an easy thing for them as well, so I give our players an awful lot of credit for staying dialled in and focused and playing as well as they have.”

He also thanked general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and True North Sports & Entertainment executive chairman Mark Chipman for allowing him to…