One day after losing 5-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who presently have the co-worst record in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins announced on Tuesday that they had fired head coach Jim Montgomery and temporarily replaced him with Joe Sacco.
Boston is now 8-9-3 (.475 points per game) and 10th in the Eastern Conference after Monday’s lopsided defeat. With a 2.40 goals per game average, the Bruins are now second only to the Chicago Blackhawks, with a 3.45 goals against per game average that is ranked 29th, the NHL’s lowest power-play effectiveness of.117, and a 25th-place penalty-killing percentage of.756.
With a -21 goal difference, they are tied for the second-worst in the NHL and have lost four of their previous five games (1-2-2).
“I made a really tough choice today regarding a coaching change. In addition to being an excellent NHL coach, Jim Montgomery is an even great guy.
He has had a good influence on the Bruins organization as a whole, and I am thankful for the chance to work with and learn from him. “I want to thank Jim’s entire family and wish him, Emily, J.P., Colin, Ava, and Olivia, all the success and happiness with their next opportunity,” GM Don Sweeney said in a statement.
“Jim’s accomplishments as the Bruins head coach include a record-breaking and historic season.” “Our team’s performance and inconsistency in the first 20 games of the 2024–25 season have been worrisome and fall short of what the Bruins want to give our supporters.”
Joe Sacco, in my opinion, has the coaching background to help the team and its players return to concentrating on the steady work that the NHL demands in order to succeed. We’ll keep trying to make the required changes to live up to the performance and standards that our devoted supporters have come to expect.
Despite leading 3-1 in the series, 3-2 with one minute remaining in Game 7, and breaking the NHL regular-season record with 65 wins and 135 points, respectively, Boston lost to the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Florida Panthers in both of Montgomery’s first two seasons, including the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in the first round of the previous season, and they were behind 1-0 in Game 7 with less than 10 minutes remaining before prevailing 2-1 in overtime.
Under Montgomery, who was named the NHL’s 2022-2023 coach of the year and received the Jack Adams Award, Boston finished the regular season with a record of 120–41–23 (.715 points percentage). They are the league leaders with 120 victories and a.715 point percentage since the 2022–2023 season began.
Sacco, who most recently held the position of associate coach, is in his eleventh season behind the Bruins bench. Previously, from 2014 to 24, he served as assistant coach.
Prior to joining the Bruins organization, Sacco was the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche from 2009–13, when he had an overall record of 130–134–40, and an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres from 2013–14. After leading the Avalanche to a 43-30-9 record in his first season as coach, he was nominated a finalist for the Jack Adams Award in 2010, which is granted yearly to the coach who has contributed the most to his team’s success. From 2004 to 2009, Sacco also served as a coach for the Albany River Rats, Lowell Lock Monsters, and Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL).
After graduating from Boston University, the Melrose, Massachusetts, native was selected by Toronto in the fourth round of the NHL draft. Over 13 NHL seasons, the forward scored 94 goals and 119 assists for 213 points in 738 games with Toronto, the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, and Anaheim Ducks.
Sacco will start behind the bench for the first time against the Utah Hockey Club on
Leave a Reply