Bruins Part Ways With Head Coach Jim Montgomery – Hockey Writers – Boston Bruins

The inevitable has finally happened. The Boston Bruins have officially announced that they have parted ways with head coach Jim Montgomery. Interim coach Joe Sacco, meaning a new voice is behind the Bruins bench to provide a spark.

This 2024-25 season has not gone well for the Bruins. They did not meet expectations and have an 8-9-3 record, which places them in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. The writing seemed to be on the wall and it was now official, but it wasn't a bad time for Montgomery. type

Montgomery's recruitment

Montgomery, overall, had a successful season with the Bruins. In his time behind the bench, he finished with a 139-58-29 record, which equated to a .679 winning percentage. In his first season behind the bench, he helped guide the Bruins to their best regular season ever and won the President's Trophy. Unfortunately, they lost in the first round, but he had a successful second season.

After the Bruins lost popular centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the Bruins gave up opportunities and Montgomery got a lot on the roster. They went on to finish with 109 points and the key players stepped up. Charlie Coyle had a career season (60 points), as did Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic. It was exactly what the fans wanted to see and the Bruins advanced to the second round for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

Related: Tommy's Take: Bruins' lack of execution costs them in 5-1 loss to Blue Jackets

Everything sounds right. Montgomery was the right choice to coach this team and help the young players step up. However, in the third year the bells fell off, and their playing on the ice became his undoing.

Bruins Not Doing Well in Year 3

The Bruins have done badly for the third year. The expectation was that they would 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 in all areas.

Special teams were a disaster, as they finished dead in power play percentage (11.7%) and 25th in penalty kill (75.6% success rate). Also, they're seeing a slow start from the same guys who had the job through the 2023-24 seasons.

The Bruins have also allowed the fourth most goals and have a minus-21 goal differential. Certainly not the results one wanted to see and ultimately cost Montgomery his job.

The Bruins will have a new voice behind the bench and hope to turn the season around. Montgomery shouldn't be out of a job for long, because any team would be lucky to have him behind the bench.