The Bruins have reportedly found their next head coach.
According to multiple reports, the Bruins are expected to hire Jim Montgomery as their next bench boss, with the 53-year-old set to take up his second head-coaching gig in the NHL ranks after previously leading the Dallas Stars from 2018-19.
Matt Murley of Barstool Sports was the first to report that the Bruins were hiring Montgomery — while Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman later adding that Mongomery was “gaining momentum” as Boston’s next coach.
Montgomery’s expected hiring would end more than three weeks of searching for Bruce Cassidy’s successor on the Bruins’ bench, with the B’s also interviewing a wide range of other coaching candidates during this stretch — including David Quinn, Jay Leach, Mike Vellucci, Joe Sacco, Spencer Carbery and Greg Cronin.
Over the last two seasons, Montgomery has served as an assistant coach on Craig Berube’s staff — devoting a hefty portion of his time to St. Louis’ special-teams units. In 2021-22, the Blues boasted the fifth-best PK unit in the league at 84.1%, and the second-ranked power play at 27.0%.
During his time as head coach of the Stars, Montgomery led a Dallas team that missed the postseason the previous two years to the second round of the playoffs in 2019 — losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blues in seven games. He was fired by Dallas just 31 games into his second season due to “unprofessional conduct”, with Montgomery later acknowledging in January 2020 that he had a drinking problem and checked himself into rehab.
Montgomery, who added that the Stars made the right call in firing him and noted that his dismissal allowed him to confront his alcohol issues, has put himself in a position for a second chance as head coach — and boasts a pretty long track record of winning at just about every stop of his post-playing career.
Prior to making the jump up to pro hockey, Montgomery was head coach at the University of Denver, helping the Pioneers win an NCAA championship in 2017 and posting an overall record of 125-57-26. He also won two titles in three seasons as head coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) and also won an NCAA title as a player at the University of Maine in 1993.
While his time in Dallas ended on an unfortunate note, Montgomery regularly drew high marks during his tenure on the Stars’ bench — with the hallmarks of his teams focusing on puck possession, player input and an emphasis on reading and reacting in terms of O-zone strategy, as opposed to simply dumping pucks in.
If the Bruins were fixated on a “new voice” in the room with their next coaching hire, Montgomery also does fit the bill.
Whereas Cassidy was often more candid and blunt when it came to getting his message across, especially to younger players, Montgomery has a reputation for taking a more encouraging, positive tone when it comes to working with on-ice talent — with younger players like Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz making solid strides on Montgomery’s watch.
Of course, you can focus on the little wiggle room that a “win-now” team like Boston had to give younger, unproven players a long leash to learn and fail at hockey’s highest level. Cassidy isn’t a coach to help spur a youth movement, but rather help put a veteran-heavy squad over the top.
With Patrice Bergeron reportedly looking to return for a 19th season, it does seem like the Bruins are aiming for at least one more run with most of this established core in place. But with the B’s staring at a crossroads in the coming years and the franchise in desperate need of more young talent supplementing some production further down on the depth chart, it’s clear that the B’s think that Montgomery’s voice is what this franchise needs at this juncture.