Some would say that the “easy” solution was taken on the Boston side by general manager Don Sweeney, while to give his team a shock after a slow start to the season, he fired the head coach on Tuesday Jim Montgomery.
The GM of the team that ranks fourth in the Atlantic Division with a record of 8-9-3 for 19 points in 20 games appeared before the media on Wednesday to now put pressure on his players.
Sweeney said he’s even had discussions in the past about a contract extension for his coach, who went 120-41-23 behind the Bruins bench before his dismissal. Without knowing when these discussions took place, and they led to an impasse, the GM added that with the first quarter of the season completed, he felt that a change was necessary to try to rectify the situation.
“We got to a point where the team was not playing to the level of our expectations and those of our fans,” he maintained.
The task therefore falls to Joe Sacco to get the team back on track. But Sweeney made it clear that the pressure needs to be on the players and not just the interim head coach. Our collaborator for The AthleticPierre LeBrun, also clarified on Tuesday that management had confidence in Sacco and that there was no question for the moment of launching a search process for a new coach.
Sweeney wants to see the response from the players and if he doesn’t find it satisfactory, he won’t rule out the possibility of making further changes.
“As for the players, they have to understand that they are not where they should be right now. It’s a question of whether we’ll get where we want, or there will be other changes. »
“We hope for some sort of start, that’s what we want with such a change. I expect them to be responsible and realize the situation and improve. We can debate the execution afterwards. If there need to be any changes, it’s up to me to make them. »
Among the problems noted by the general manager, there is the lack of production on offense. David Pastrnak is his team’s top scorer with eight goals, but then only Brad Marchand has reached the five-goal mark this season.
Sweeney also noted that there needs to be better performance in front of the net. As such, Jeremy Swayman has not met expectations since the start of the campaign. The one who missed training camp to finally agree to an eight-year contract worth $66 million allows an average of 3.47 goals per game and shows an efficiency rate of .901 this season.
The Bruins GM also had to answer about the team’s acquisitions during the off-season. Elias Lindholm has only two goals since the start of the campaign and Nikita Zadorov is having trouble on the blue line. The team leader hopes for a reawakening of his troop.
“It’s hard to have ten or so players playing under the expectations placed on them. This is worrying. »
“Is there a transition period when a new player arrives? Certainly, but we’re past that point. It’s been over for a long time actually, especially for an established player,” Sweeney maintained after talking about Lindholm.
The Bruins return to action Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club.
