Star Tribune · Jul 16, 2020
NHL's older coaches debate wearing masks, taking precautions
After two days behind a mask and off his skates, Rick Bowness returned to his natural habitat on the ice with air inside the rink blowing against his face.
"You get out there and you miss it," the Dallas Stars coach said. "You realize how much you enjoy being out there."
The NHL's oldest head coach still worries about COVID-19 but not enough to stop doing his job. It's a risk-reward proposition coaches and executives around sports are weighing, and while Florida assistant Mike Kitchen is the only one to so far opt out of hockey's return, plenty of others are considering masking up behind the bench and taking other precautions in the middle of a pandemic.