Three days later, Rick Bowness has not calmed down.
The Columbus Blue Jackets coach continued his public tirade over his team's defence on Friday three days after it suffered a 7-3 loss to the Floridaa Panthers.
"Right now, we should all be very angry at where we are," Bowness told reporters.
"You look at our team. We’re 30th in the league in goals against. I’ve never coached a team that was 30th in the league in goals against … I’m mad. I keep seeing 30th goals against. That bothers me."
Columbus, which sits 3-2 on the season, is tied with the Los Angeles Kings for third-last in the NHL at 4.20 goals against per game. The Blue Jackets fell apart in the second period of the Panthers loss, allowing four goals including a natural hat trick from Brady Tkachuk. Forward Mathieu Olivier did his team no favours either, taking an ill-advised five-minute major penalty for slashing, which led to his subsequent ejection and another goal against.
Bowness was asked if his players share his anger.
"Yeah. They’re like I am. They’re not happy where they are," he said.
The 71-year-old coach ripped into his players in the immediate aftermath of the game on Tuesday, calling the performance "embarrassing."
"You gotta believe that performance will embarrass them enough to stop this, right?" Bowness told reporters. "Because if they're not embarrassed by that, we don't want them on the team. Simple as that."
"I know it looks bad, but I believe in what we're doing. I believe in them. I believe we can fix the problems," the bench boss added. "That all being said, if (the game) doesn't get their attention, then they're on the wrong team."
Blue Jackets players will have their first chance to do just that when they return to the ice Saturday for a home date against the New York Rangers.
