On November 19th, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney announced that head coach Jim Montgomery has been relieved of his duties. Associate coach Joe Sacco will take over as interim head coach. The Bruins were off to a 8-9-3 start. In a press statement, Sweeney mentioned “Our team’s inconsistency and performance in the first 20 games of the 2024-25 season has been concerning and below how the Bruins want to reward our fans.” (ESPN)
Montgomery had a 120-41-23 record as the Bruins head coach for three seasons, while making the playoffs twice. Club president Cam Neely said he is supportive of Don’s decision, and believes that “Joe Sacco has a wealth of experience and knowledge of our roster and can help lead our team in the right direction.” (ESPN)
Joe Sacco is in his 11th season as part of the Bruins association, where he has been the Assistant Coach since 2014. Before joining the Bruins association, he was an assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres in the 2013-2014 season, and a head coach for the Colorado Avalanche from 2009 to 2013. In his career as a player, Sacco was a 4th round pick for the Toronto Maple Leafs out of Boston University. He played 738 games in the NHL, with the Flyers, Islanders, Anaheim, and Toronto. He had 94 goals and 119 assists over his 13 NHL seasons.
One of the biggest questions that fans are asking is if it was too early to move on from Montgomery. His record as Bruins head coach shows he knows how to win and can do it often. He has managed to take the team to the playoffs twice as well. One of the reasons the association is likely using is his regression, as each year their record has started worse and worse, and by association they haven’t done as well in the playoffs.
On top of that, the Bruins power play has been one of their weak points the past two seasons, with one of the lowest goal conversion rates on power plays. Some part of the system isn’t working well enough to create the right opportunities, namely in the Bruins zone setup. The players themselves seem to be having a weaker season so far as well, not leading in any significant stats, while losing games that should likely be wins, and when winning, cutting it close.
In the coming weeks the Bruins will be in a transitional period between the coaches, so it is important to not jump to conclusions about the coaching change, but after these first few weeks, the Bruins should be making the correct adjustments. If the Bruins continue their current performance, they will likely miss the playoffs, and lose momentum they were trying to build up for a cup push.