The Boston Bruins have fired head coach Jim Montgomery, The team announced this on Tuesday. The move comes amid a disappointing start for the Bruins after general manager Don Sweeney spent heavily to improve the roster in the offseason.
Boston is 8-9-3 after 20 games and the team was fresh off an embarrassing 5-1 home loss to Boston Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday evening. That might have been the final blow to Montgomery, who was in his third season on the Bruins' bench.
In a lengthy statement, Sweeney said the team's on-ice performance did not meet expectations. Sweeney also expressed confidence in interim coach Joe Sacco.
“Our team's inconsistency and performance through the first 20 games of the 2024-25 season was concerning and demonstrated how the Bruins want to reward our fans. I believe that Joe Sacco has the coaching experience to bring the players and the team back into focus.” the consistent effort of the requires to be successful. We will continue to work to make the necessary adjustments to meet the standard and performance our supporting fans expect.”
The Bruins signed Montgomery in 2022 and he immediately led the team to the greatest regular season in NHL history with 65 wins and 135 points and the league's Presidents' Trophy to go with that performance. That postseason, Boston blew a 3-1 lead against the eventual Eastern Conference champions Florida Panthers in the first round.
Last season under Montgomery, Boston scored 109 points and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs. Then the Bruins fell for the second straight time in a seven-game series against the Panthers.
Sweeney signed center Elias Lindholm and defenders Nikita Zadorov signing big contracts over the summer in hopes of making a strong playoff appearance this season. However, things didn't work out with the new additions and the rest of the squad wasn't able to adequately pick up the slack.
Montgomery leaves the Bruins with an overall record of 120-41-23.
Sacco will now look to get the Bruins back on track in his first head coaching job since his four-year stint with the Bruins Colorado avalanche from 2009-2013. During that time, he posted a 130-134-30 record in one playoff appearance.
