Bruins fire head coach Jim Montgomery; Joe Sacco takes over on interim basis originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins have fired head coach Jim Montgomery after a little more than two seasons on the bench.
The decision to make a coaching change was announced by the team Tuesday. Montgomery will be replaced by Bruins associate coach Joe Sacco. Sacco is in his 11th season behind the Bruins bench. He was the Colorado Avalanche head coach from 2009-13.
Montgomery’s firing isn’t super surprising when you consider Boston’s difficult start to the season. The Bruins entered Tuesday with a 8-9-3 record. Despite the rough start, the B’s are still in the second wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Expectations were very high for the franchise coming into the 2024-25 campaign after it won a round in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and spent a lot of money in the offeseason (free agency, specifically) to improve the roster.
But instead of taking a step forward, the B’s have taken a step back in many facets. The team’s top players aren’t meeting expectations offensively. Both special teams units have struggled, too. The power play ranks dead last (32nd) and the penalty kill is 26th.
The Bruins also have been remarkably undisciplined, leading the league in penalty minutes and minor penalties taken. The B’s also haven’t scored at a high level and rank 31st with 2.40 goals per game. They’ve also been the league’s worst third period team with a minus-12 goal differential over the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Montgomery was hired in July 22 to replace Bruce Cassidy. The B’s set NHL records for the most wins and points by a team in Montgomery’s first season, but that excitement was short lived as they were eliminated in the first round by the Florida Panthers. The B’s were in the Presidents’ Trophy mix again last season and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round before losing to the Panthers again in Round 2.
Montgomery finishes his Bruins career with a 278-172-75 record in the regular season and a 16-17 record in the playoffs.
The Bruins’ first game with Sacco in charge will be against Utah on Thusday night at TD Garden.
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