THE NHL : Bowness, Fletcher Get New Positions

Rick Bowness, coach of the minor league Maine Mariners, was named head coach of the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, replacing Mike Milbury.

Milbury relinquished his coaching chores last week to become the team’s assistant general manager.

“I’m a coach that wants to win, like everybody else,” Bowness said. “I’m very enthusiastic. We want to keep everything as positive as we can, and we’ll do what we have to to win.”

Bowness, 36, coached the Bruins’ American Hockey League affiliate the past two years, posting a 65-72-23 record. Twenty-one of the 39 Bruins who played this season also played under Bowness in Maine.

Bowness had a nine-year NHL career after being drafted by Atlanta in the second round of the 1975 amateur draft. He played for Atlanta, Detroit, St. Louis and Winnipeg, collecting 18 goals and 37 assists in 173 games.

Cliff Fletcher, who helped build the Calgary Flames into one of the NHL’s strongest franchises, was handed the reins of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

Fletcher, 55, was named president, general manager and chief operating officer of Maple Leaf Garden, Ltd., and he will assume total command of the day-to-day operations of the team and Maple Leaf Gardens.

Donald Giffin will give up his president’s position in favor of Fletcher, who assumes his new post on July 1.