Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness blasts players in post game interview: 'They don't care'

Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness blasts players in post game interview: 'They don't care' originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Columbus Blue Jackets' season officially ended this week as they fell just short of a playoff spot. While at one point the Blue Jackets were on track to potentially make the postseason, Columbus lost 10 of its last 13 games to end the season with a whimper.

Columbus brought in veteran coach Rick Bowness to take over as head in January to try and shake things up, which led to immediate success. However, Bowness' impact couldn't last past the regular season, and the head coach put the blame on the player.

After the Blue Jackers final game of the year, Bowness blasted the Blue Jacket players' attitude towards losing. Bowness is not guaranteed to return next year, so this could be the last thing he says as the team's head coach.

Here's how Bowness ripped into his team on Tuesday night.

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Rick Bowness blasts Blue Jackets players

The Blue Jackets lost 2-1 to the Washington Capitals to end the season, making it six straight home losses, and Rick Bowness believes the players simply didn't care about winning.

"These guys, they don't care," he said. "Losing is not important enough to them, it doesn't bother them. How can you go out and play like that? I should have done this a month ago. But this is why we are where we are, this is why we're out of the playoffs. That kind of effort."

Bowness said even though Columbus was eliminated before the game began, the players should've still performed like they hated losing. Instead, Bowness said the team didn't show enough passion.

When Bowness was hired in January, it was likely to finish the season so the team still has to decide whether to bring him back for next year. If Bowness does return, he says he plans on making significant changes.

"If I'm back, we're changing this freaking culture," he said.

At 71 years-old, Bowness may decide he doesn't want to coach anymore, as he has coached eight different teams in 15 different seasons since 1989. However, the veteran sure showed passion and emotion in his final press conference of the year.