Scotty Bowman.

Scotty Bowman. Scotty Bowman, born in 1933, Canadian professional ice hockey coach, the first coach in National Hockey League (NHL) history to win 1,000 games. By winning Stanley Cup championships as coach of the Montréal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings, Bowman also became the first NHL coach to lead three different teams to the league title. All together Bowman won nine Stanley Cup championships, more than any coach in league history. William Scott Bowman was born in Montréal, Québec. After playing minor league hockey, he started coaching in the mid-1950s. Bowman first directed local amateur clubs and eventually worked with teams sponsored by the NHL's Montréal Canadiens. This opportunity enabled Bowman to observe famed Montréal coach Toe Blake during the 1960s, when the Canadiens dominated NHL play. The St. Louis Blues hired Bowman before the 1967-68 season, the club's first year in the NHL. Bowman led the team to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals (19681970), but each year the Blues failed to capture the title. Bowman was dismissed partway through the 1970-71 season. Bowman returned to the Canadiens for the 1971-72 season, now as the team's head coach. A year later he won the first of his five Stanley Cup championships in Montréal. Under Bowman the Canadiens dominated the NHL in the late 1970s, winning four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1976 through 1979. After the 1979 season the Buffalo Sabres hired Bowman as general manager of the franchise. During much of his tenure as an executive, Bowman also coached the team. He was fired early in the 1986-87 season. Bowman then worked in broadcasting until the Pittsburgh Penguins hired him for a management position in 1990. He returned to the coaching bench following the death of Bob Johnson, who had coached Pittsburgh to the franchise's first Stanley Cup win in 1990-91. Bowman led the Penguins to their second straight championship in 1991-92. The Detroit Red Wings hired Bowman before the 1993-94 season. Detroit reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1995 but lost to the New Jersey Devils. Bowman's 1995-96 Red Wings team set an NHL record with 62 victories but lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference playoffs. During the 1996-97 campaign Bowman coached Detroit to its first Stanley Cup championship since 1955. The team repeated as NHL champion the following year. After Bowman guided the Red Wings to a third Stanley Cup title in 2002, he announced his retirement from coaching. Bowman won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 1977 with the Canadiens and in 1996 with the Red Wings. Considered an innovator in the use of computers and videotape in the coaching field, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.