Throwback Thursday: This week in 1993, Detroit Red Wings hire Scotty Bowman as head coach

This week in 1993 (June 15th), the Detroit Red Wings hired Scotty Bowman as the 23rd head coach in team history.

Bowman, then 60, ended up going down as arguably the best head coach in Red Wings history over his nine-year career and here’s why.

He spent 701 games behind the bench in the regular season posting a .655 win percentage, the second-best in team history behind Dave Lewis who succeeded Bowman.

But what set Bowman above the rest was his massive playoff success. His Red Wings won 86 of 134 playoff games as the team won the 1997, 1998, and 2002 Stanley Cups.

Bowman’s Red Wings made the playoffs every year he was behind the bench and there were only two seasons they didn’t make it out of the first round.

In 1995, he became the first coach in league history to appear in the cup finals with four different teams. He previously took the St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins to the finals.

He retired after the Red Wings won the 2002 Stanley Cup.

On Twitter: @zjlaing