Photo: The Boston Globe
The Boston Bruins announced that they fired head coach Jim Montgomery and replaced him with Joe Sacco on an interim basis on Tuesday, one day after losing 5-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who currently have the co-worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Joe Sacco has the interim tag, but the Bruins will give him a real look before reaching out to any other candidates. My understanding is there won’t be a coaching search for now. Sacco is well-liked and well respected within the organization and gets a real crack at it first.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) November 19, 2024
Monday’s blowout loss dropped Boston to 8-9-3 (.475 points percentage – 10th in the Eastern Conference) this season. The Bruins’ 2.40 goals-per-game average currently leads just the Chicago Blackhawks, 3.45 goals-against per game average ranks 29th, .117 power-play efficiency is the NHL’s worst, and .756 penalty-killing rate is 25th.
They have dropped four of their last five games (1-2-2) and are tied for the second-worst in the NHL with a -21 goal-differential.
“Today, I made a very difficult decision with regards to a coaching change. Jim Montgomery is a very good NHL coach and an even better person. He has made a positive impact throughout the Bruins organization, and I am both grateful and appreciative of the opportunity to work with him and learn from him. Jim’s accomplishments as the Bruins head coach include a record-breaking and historic season, and I want to thank his entire family and wish him, Emily, J.P., Colin, Ava and Olivia all the success and happiness with their next opportunity,” GM Don Sweeney said in a statement. “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. I believe Joe Sacco has the coaching experience to bring the players and the team back to focusing on the consistent effort the NHL requires to have success. We will continue to work to make the necessary adjustments to meet the standard and performance our supportive fans expect.”
Boston fell to the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Florida Panthers in each of Montgomery’s first two seasons, including in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs despite leading 3-1 in the series, 3-2 with a minute left in Game 7, and breaking the NHL regular-season record with 65 wins and 135 points, respectively. Last season, they blew a 3-1 series lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and trailed 1-0 with less than 10 minutes left in Game 7 before winning, 2-1, in overtime.
Boston went 120-41-23 (.715 points percentage) in the regular season under Montgomery, who won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year for the 2022-23 season. Their 120 wins and .715 points percentage since the start of the 2022-23 season both lead the league.
Sacco is in his 11th season behind the Bruins bench, where he most recently served as Associate Coach. He previously held the role of Assistant Coach from 2014-24.
Before joining the Bruins organization, Sacco served as an Assistant Coach for the Buffalo Sabres in 2013-14, and as Head Coach for the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-13, where he compiled an overall record of 130-134-40. In 2010, he was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the coach who has contributed the most to his team’s success, after leading the Avalanche to a 43-30-9 record in his first season at the helm. Sacco also previously held several coaching positions in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 2004-09, with the Lake Erie Monsters, Albany River Rats and Lowell Lock Monsters.
The Melrose, Massachusetts native was a fourth-round NHL draft pick of Toronto out of Boston University. In 738 career NHL games with Toronto, the Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, and Anaheim Ducks, the forward recorded 94 goals and 119 assists for 213 points over 13 NHL seasons.
Sacco will make his debut behind Boston’s bench against the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday (7 PM ET, ESPN+).
Games Coached After Winning the Jack Adams Award
2022-23 Jim Montgomery (Bruins) 102
2021-22 Darryl Sutter (Flames) 82
2019-20 Bruce Cassidy (Bruins) 138
2017-18 Gerard Gallant (Golden Knights) 131— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 19, 2024
By Harrison Brown
