Mike Kuta, a former Gulf War marine reconnaissance specialist, was hired by the Wings to serve alongside public relations director John Hahn shortly into Bowman's tenure. It didn't take long for Kuta to get a second form of military education from Bowman-and to learn the best way to make him like you, like McGuire did, was to stand up to him.
"I remember one time he was sitting in the coach's room, before or after a practice. All the coaches are in there watching video," Kuta said. “I had a bunch of requests that I needed to go over with him. If he knew you needed something, he would kind of blow you off. I was standing in the doorway. He just kept cutting me off, going, 'One minute, one minute.' And then he looked at me and he goes, 'Go get me a coffee.' I was like, 'What?' I said it out loud, even though I didn't intend to, I said, 'f*** off.' It just came out. The second I said it, I thought, 'Oh Christ, this is the end of my career. I just told Scotty Bowman to f*** off.' My whole future flashed in front of my eyes, I'm going to be in the unemployment line forever. And he laughed out loud. After that, he was nicer to me. It was almost like he tested people. Our relationship from then on was better."
