After losing 12 of their first 20 games, the Boston Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery on Tuesday. Joe Sacco will take over in the interim.
Today I made a very difficult decision regarding a change of coach. Jim Montgomery is a very good coach in the NHL, and an even better person. He has had a positive impact on our entire organization, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from him
said general manager Don Sweeney in a statement.
The Montreal native was hired by the team in June 2022. In his first season at the helm of the team, he helped it win the Presidents’ Trophy with 65 victories, a National Hockey League record .
The Bruins were then eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Florida Panthers.
Last year, they stopped in the second round, against these same Panthers, eventual winners of the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins’ struggles continued on the first day of the 2024-25 season, with a loss to the Florida Panthers in a game where they trailed 5-1. On Halloween, they were routed 8-2 by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Monday, after the 5-1 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets, a game in which the Bruins players were booed by their fans as they retreated to the locker room while trailing 3-0 after 20 minutes of play , Montgomery became a philosopher.
Everyone is going through tough times, he said. Whether in life, or with your team. That’s life. How do you get back up? It’s not about how much the fall hurts, it’s how quickly you get back up.
The Bruins currently sit 18th in the NHL and are at risk of missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season.
Joe Sacco is in his 11th season behind the Bruins bench as an assistant. He also managed the Colorado Avalanche between 2009 and 2013.
Montgomery, 55, was also the head coach of the Dallas Stars from 2018 to 2020. He served as an assistant with the Saint Louis Blues for two seasons before joining the Bruins.
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With information from The Canadian Press
