Scotty Bowman

Bowman left the Canadiens in 1979 to become coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. The team struggled during the seven years Bowman was there, never advancing beyond the conference finals in the playoffs. In his dual role, Bowman was spread too thin and grew tired of coaching. Three times he hired coaches to take over on the bench—Roger Neilson in 1981, Jimmy Roberts in '82, Jim Schoenfeld in '86—and three times he replaced them. In late 1986, he again gave up the coaching duties to focus on the general manager's job, but was fired soon after that.

For the next three years, Bowman worked as an analyst on Hockey Night in Canada. In 1990, he became director of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Penguins—a job that allowed him to stay in Buffalo with his family. He had married Suella Belle Chitty in 1969, and they had five children. Their second-oldest, David, was born with hydrocephalus and spent most of his life in an institution for the mentally handicapped.