Bowman says ice hockey will go global

Published on Thursday 10 July 2008 10:28

SCOTTY BOWMAN, one of the most renowned figures in the world of ice hockey, was at Murrayfield yesterday to dispense some of his vast knowledge to youngsters.

The 74-year-old Bowman, who is in Scotland as he attempts to trace his forebears, is the only head coach in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) ever to have won championships with three different teams.

And Bowman, who is in ice hockey's Hall of Fame, holds the record for most wins in NHL history with 1,244 victories in the regular season and 223 in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It is a remarkable record for a man whose mother, Jean, and father, Jack, hailed from Monikie near Carnoustie and Forfar respectively.

The legend, who coached St Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings, is still imparting his knowledge to anybody who will listen.

Yesterday, Bowman took time out from tracing his Scottish roots to talk to youngsters attending a summer hockey school at Murrayfield. Ice Rink.

And he firmly believes that the world's fastest team sport will go global in the next three decades.

He said: "It is now played in so many countries. Europe is the next phase. The travel is much different now and that's why they played two (NHL) games in London last year. This year they're going to Sweden and I think they're also going to the Czech Republic.

"We're going global and it will be a global sport. It won't happen overnight, but, right now, 35 per cent of the players in the NHL are from Europe, another 15 per cent are from the USA and the Canadians produce the rest.

"The European influence (in the NHL] has been big in the last 20 years.

"The UK could score. If the league continues to get better, the North American players will come here because they can speak English and their kids can go to school.

"There are a lot of plusses potentially in Britain, but it is all about getting British hockey to a better standard."