Rick Bowness watched Brady Tkachuk and the Panthers roll past his Blue Jackets in Columbus tonight, and the veteran coach didn't hold anything back afterward.
"You have to hope, you got to believe that performance tonight will embarrass them enough to stop this, right?" Bowness said. "Because if they're not embarrassed by that, we don't want them on the team."
He finished with words that say everything: "It's as simple as that."
The scoreboard explains the anger. Florida won 7-3, with Brady scoring a natural hat trick in about eight minutes and Matthew Tkachuk assisting on all three goals.
Columbus fell to 2-3-0. It was the kind of loss that exposes everything at once, from the defensive coverage to the effort level.
Telling his own players they might not belong is about as direct as a coach gets. Bowness, hired in January, clearly isn't interested in easing anyone into the season.
Don Waddell's Blue Jackets get a public wake-up call from Rick Bowness
Matthew Knies has been one of the few bright spots since arriving from Toronto, with two goals and four points, including a game-winner.
Zach Werenski has four assists through five games. The talent is there, which is exactly why Bowness is so frustrated.
He's right to call it out. A coach who stays quiet after a night like this teaches his team that it's acceptable, and Columbus can't afford that lesson in October.
It's like a teacher handing back a failed test in front of the whole class. Uncomfortable, but nobody forgets to study for the next one.
The Blue Jackets host the Rangers on Saturday, a team that just lost Igor Shesterkin for the season.
Bowness drew his line tonight. Saturday will show which players heard it, and which ones he might not want around much longer.
Was Rick Bowness right to call out his players publicly?
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