Claude Julien returns to Boston: 5 snapshots that show his impact on Bruins

Maybe not everyone in the Bruins organization always agreed with Claude Julien when he coached here, but there’s a respect factor for what he accomplished during his 10-year tenure in Boston.

More than 11 months after the Bruins fired Julien on Feb. 7, 2017, he returns to TD Garden for the first time when Boston hosts the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 on Wednesday night. The Bruins defeated the Canadiens 4-3 in shootout on Saturday at Bell Centre in Montreal.

At some point during the game, the Bruins will likely recognize Julien’s accomplishments with a video montage, so his former players and the fans can give him a standing ovation.

“He definitely deserves one,” said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. “He had been here for a long time and did great things with the team, the organization, the community, the fans and everyone. He should definitely be recognized for them.”



Julien left as the organization as the all-time leader for wins as a coach with a 419-246-94 record and a .614 winning percentage. Oh, and he helped guide the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup title in a 39-year span over the Vancouver Canucks in 2011. The Bruins returned to the finals in 2013 before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.

“Obviously he’s a great coach,” added Chara. “He’s a great person. He’s just a great teacher.”

Current Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who has a 42-18-9 record in 69 games behind the bench, replaced Julien. Cassidy understands Julien’s return to TD Garden will be met some emotion.

“They won a Stanley Cup under Claude, so there should be,” Cassidy said. “There was a bit of that in Montreal, in terms of the first time, looking across the bench and seeing him behind a different group. I imagine there will be a little more (Wednesday).

“There are guys that played under him for a length of time, so you don’t forget about that.”

Even though Julien’s gone and the Bruins’ roster is completely different from a season ago, the former coach’s fingerprints remain. Cassidy’s systems are more offensive-minded, which includes defensemen getting more involved. However, the defensive side of the game is similar to Julien’s style, as far as layers and how the team wants to break the puck out quickly.

Julien’s accomplishments are well documented, but here are five things he did during his tenure in Boston that helped shape the Bruins.

Hide and seek: Everything eventually went right for the Bruins in the spring of '11 en route to a Stanley Cup championship, but the postseason didn’t start well in Boston with a pair of losses to the Canadiens in Games 1 and 2. The Bruins defeated Montreal 4-2 in Game 3 at Bell Centre, but it was a decision by Julien that changed the course of the playoffs for the Bruins.

There were two days off between Games 3 and 4 in Montreal, so Julien thought it best to take the team out of the city and set up camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. The Bruins practiced at the 1980 Olympic facility and enjoyed plenty of team-bonding time.

“Huge. It was huge,” Chara told BostonSportsJournal.com. “Instead of staying in the city and always being under the microscope — not necessarily face-to-face pressure but just the environment of being in a city — so (Lake Placid) gave us a little more off time to relax and be in a playoff mode, but not in a playoff environment. It was a turning point.”

When the team returned to Montreal for Game 4, it was much more relaxed and focused on the task at hand. The Bruins won that game and Game 5 and eventually took the series in seven games. That trip proved to be a pivotal point for the remainder of the playoffs.

Dynamic duo: When Brad Marchand made his NHL debut with the Bruins during the 2009-10 season, he was a bottom-six forward. That changed the following season when Julien decided the team would be better with the rookie forward on Patrice Bergeron’s left side. The chemistry clicked almost right away and that pair proved crucial during Game 7 of the finals against the Canucks when Bergeron scored two goals and Marchand added two goals and one assist en route to a 4-0 victory. They’ve been linemates ever since and have become one of the strongest offensive pairings in Bruins history.

It's called coaching: During the '13 Cup finals, the Blackhawks held a 1-0 series lead over the Bruins. The opening period of Game 2 was one of the worst for Boston in the playoffs and Chicago had a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Julien made a timely decision and tweaked his line combinations and put Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin together. It worked. That trio produced both goals as the Bruins rallied to beat the Blackhawks 2-1 in overtime to even the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. After that game, Julien said he had a hunch that line would produce and it did as Kelly tied the game in the second period before Paille provided the game-winner in OT. The Bruins won Game 3 but eventually lost the series in six games.

Net worth: When Julien took over as coach at the start of the 2007-08 season, the Bruins were trying to figure out their goaltending situation. Tim Thomas had been on the outside looking in from the minors while the likes of Andrew Raycroft, Hannu Toivonen, Alex Auld, Manny Fernandez and Rask were all expected to start over Thomas. Eventually, it came down to Thomas and Rask. Due to a hip injury, Thomas was the odd-man out late during the 2009-10 season and Rask was the postseason starter and the Bruins imploded and lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 7 of the semifinals. Thomas had offseason hip surgery and there were doubts whether or not he could compete at a high level. After training camp and the preseason schedule were complete, Julien realized Thomas was 100 percent healthy and handed him the reins. It could have easily been a season-long goalie controversy, but Julien decided Thomas was the starter and he turned in a historic performance, won his second Vezina, the Conn Smythe and the Stanley Cup.

Resume speaks for itself: The stigma that Julien did not like playing younger players, or could not develop them, is simply false. We’ve already discussed Marchand’s development under Julien, and he also helped David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel, Adam McQuaid, Rask, Torey Krug, Seguin, Blake Wheeler, David Pastrnak, and to some extent, Bergeron. Julien was, and is, the type of coach to get the most out of the roster that he’s given.