The inevitable has finally happened. The Boston Bruins have officially announced they’ve parted ways with head coach Jim Montgomery. The interim head coach is Joe Sacco, meaning a new voice is behind the bench for the Bruins in order to provide a spark.
This 2024-25 season has gone poorly for the Bruins. They have not met expectations and have a 8-9-3 record, placing them fourth in the Atlantic Division. The writing seemed to be on the wall and now it’s official, but it was not an awful tenure for Montgomery. gen
Montgomery’s Tenure
Montgomery, overall, had a successful tenure with the Bruins. In his time behind the bench, he finished with a record of 120-41-23, equating to a .715 win percentage. In his first season behind the bench, he helped guide the Bruins to the best regular season ever and won the Presidents’ Trophy. Unfortunately, they lost in the first round, but he did have a successful second season.
After the Bruins lost iconic centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the Bruins defied the odds and Montgomery got the most out of the roster. They went on to finish with 109 points and key players stepped up. Charlie Coyle had a career season (60 points), as did Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic. It’s exactly what fans wanted to see and the Bruins advanced to the second round for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
Related: Tommy’s Takes: Bruins Lack of Execution Costs Them in 5-1 Loss to Blue Jackets
Everything felt right. Montgomery was the right choice to coach this team and help younger players take the next leap forward. However, in year three the rails fell off, and their play on the ice was his undoing.
Bruins Performing Poorly in Year 3
The Bruins have executed poorly in year three. Expectations were for them to be a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference, especially after adding center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Instead, it’s been the opposite and the Bruins have failed to execute on all fronts.
The special teams have been a disaster, as they are dead last in power play percentage (11.7%) and 25th on the penalty kill (75.6% success rate). Also, they are seeing slow starts from the same guys who had career 2023-24 seasons.
The Bruins also have allowed the fourth-most goals and have a minus-21 goal differential. It is certainly not the results one wanted to see and ultimately cost Montgomery his job.
The Bruins will indeed have a new voice behind the bench and hope to turn the season around. Montgomery should not be out of a job long, as any team would be lucky to have him behind the bench.
