William Scott Bowman (born September 18, 1933) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey head coach. He holds the record for most wins in National Hockey League (NHL) history, with 1,244 wins in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and his 14 Stanley Cup wins ranks second most of all time for any player, coach, or executive. He coached the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings. He was most recently the senior advisor of hockey operations for the Chicago Blackhawks until he stepped down in July 2022. Bowman is widely regarded as the greatest coach in NHL history.
As head coach, Bowman has won a record nine Stanley Cup championships; five with the Canadiens (, , , , and ), one with the Penguins () and three with the Red Wings (, , and ), making him the only head coach to lead three different teams to Stanley Cup victories.Bowman has also won the Stanley Cup five times as a member of an organization's front office. He was director of player development for the 1991 Penguins, consultant with the Detroit Red Wings, and senior advisor of hockey operations for the , , and Chicago Blackhawks. Bowman's teams also made it to the Stanley Cup Finals a record 13 times and the semifinals a record 16 times. Bowman won the Jack Adams Award in 1977 and 1996. In the 1976–77 season, he won a record 60 games, breaking his own record of 58 wins the year before. He broke his own record again in the 1995–1996 season, with 62 wins; overall, he held the record for 46 years, until . His eight losses in 1976–77 are a modern record for the fewest defeats incurred.
Career
Bowman played junior league hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens until a fractured skull, resulting from an unintentional slash by Jean-Guy Talbot during the 1952 playoffs, ended his long term playing aspirations.