Bruins Head Coach Search Heating Up

Bruins Head Coach Search Heating Up

The Boston Bruins coaching search is heating up and not only do we know the candidates now, but we have a timeline as well. In this video, I’ll walk through all the information out there regarding the Boston Bruins next head coach. Buckle up, Bruins fans. I’m here to give you the latest info on your beloved Boston Bruins. If you’ve been liking my Bruins content, please leave me a like and subscribe. If you’ve already done so, thank you and let’s get into it. According to Pierre Lebrun from TSN, final interviews will be conducted next week for the Boston Bruins head coaching position and then a decision will come after that. He’s not sure who made the cut. He says he’s not sure who made the cut, but he has listed all the people he thinks at least have interviewed. Boston has talked to a lot of people, he says. Marco Sturm, Jay Woodcraftoft, Mitch Love, Luke Richardson, Joe Sacko, Jay Leech. Among those he believes the Bruins have interviewed. I wish I could be excited about the list, but two names do stand out to me as the coaches that could take the Bruins in a different direction. Unfortunately for Joe Sacko, I don’t think he’s earned the position because last season having a record of 2530 and 7 in 62 games with the Bruins. Sacko’s career NHL record is below 500, sitting at 487, which I don’t think is doing him any favors. When Sacko first took over the team, the Bruins seemed to play better. But after the new coach smell wore off, the Bruins continued to struggle last year. As with any Bruins coach that leaves the team, the coach he replaced, Jim Montgomery, took the struggling St. Louis Blues back into the playoff contention, but lost in the first round at Winnipeg. Many have said in the comments that they think it will be Sacko. But I’m guessing they’re being sarcastic cuz I just don’t see it. If they were going to go with Sacko, I would think they wouldn’t even have gone through this whole process and Sacko would have got the job. Sacko didn’t exactly set the world on fire and didn’t seem to get enough out of the player. We’re seeing Bruins players excel in the World Cup of hockey right now, and that includes Jeremy Swayman, who’s sitting currently with a 197 goals against average, but he did have one really bad game, but he’s recovered nicely. I’m not saying he’s back, but by any means, but it’s nice to see him getting his confidence back. My hope last season when Sako took over is he would get the Bruins back on track, but he didn’t seem to have the fire to push the team last year they so desperately needed. The Bruins struggled in every offensive category under Sacko. And for the reason I truly see no way they bring him back as the head coach next season. If they do have Sacko back as head coach, they shouldn’t expect different results. Sacko had done a great job over his career as an assistant coach and maybe that’s where he’s meant to be. Jay Leech was the Bruins assistant coach last season and has been an assistant coach his whole career with a stop in Seattle for a spell. Leech and Kelly handled the Bruins as assistant coaches last year, so they would have been doing the special teams and defense. The special teams were the worst in the league last year. Mind you, Sacko was in charge of the power play previously when he got promoted to interm head coach. So, that doesn’t really say much. For me, I guess it boils down to the Bruins already know what they have with Leech, and I can’t seem to be giving them the head coaching job over some of the other candidates. If the Bruins promoted Leech to head coach, I would have some serious doubts about the competency of the Bruins management. I can’t wait for the comments after I just said that about the Bruins management. I’m going backwards on the list. So, next I’m going to talk about Loot Richardson, who served as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks for two seasons before they fired him 26 games into his third season in 2024 25. A 1,417 NHL game veteran during his playing career, he put together a 571815 record behind the bench in Chicago. Yes, the Chicago teams he coached were terrible, but so is the record. And even though management knew the team was bad, they still fired him, which tells me they didn’t think he could work with the young roster. Chicago brought in vets like former Bruin Nick Felino and Taylor Hall to mentor the young players, but it wasn’t enough. Generational talent Connor Bard didn’t flourish under Richardson and ultimately it cost him his job. Richardson is highly thought of around the league and is also named to be a candidate with many other coaching positions around the league. Boston Bruins are currently fourth youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 27 and I would think you need a coach that can get more out of young talent. Mitch Love is currently the assistant coach of the Washington Capitals and I’ve heard his name a ton. He has been the assistant coach in Washington for the past two seasons and won back-to-back AHL coach of the year awards in 2022 and 23. Many are saying he’s the next Spencer Carbury and some say that teams would be foolish to pass up on them, but I think a lot of the comparison is just because he’s Carbury’s assistant coach in Washington. Love is rumored to be the finalist for many coaching positions around the league right now, including Seattle and Pittsburgh. Carbury has nothing but great things to say about him. Arbory said, “He’s done a tremendous job for us and very similar coaching path to where I came from, having been an assistant for a couple years, hoping he gets an opportunity at some point. He deserves it. He’s earned it. He’s done a great coaching job with our decor and the last two years. And he’s done a ton of success as head coach. He is a head coach and so that’s just a matter of him getting that opportunity.” I would think Love gets a serious look, if not one of the final coaches to be interviewed for the job. Jay Woodcraftoft is an interesting one because I’ve seen many in the fan base say the Bruins should hire him. Woodcraftoft was Edmonton Oilers’s head coach for two seasons before he was fired 13 games into his third season in 23-24. The Oilers at the time were in the danger of missing the playoffs and after he was fired went on a tear carried that all the way to the Stanley Cup final. He led the Oilers to the Western Cup final in 2022 and his 643 points percentage is eighth best all time among coaches with at least 100 games coached. He has a very impressive record in the NHL, which I can’t dispute, but for some reason it bothers me that he needed to be fired in Edmonton when they had two of the greatest players in the league and arguably the best player in the world in Conor McDavid. When Woodcraftoft was fired, though, McDavid quickly came to his defense and expressed shock that it happened. Both McDavid and Dryettle said that Wolcraftoft never lost the room and they loved playing for him. They both took full responsibility for Woodcraftoft being fired. I wouldn’t be upset if Woodcraftoft was named that next head coach and I feel like it would be a very good pick and sounds like they would work well and he’d be liked by many players in the room. Woodcraftoft fits the mold of what Sweeney said he’s looking for in a head coach. As he mentioned, he was looking for someone with head coaching experience and someone that can get them back to the playoffs. In fact, I would think Woodcraftoft would have the best resume of all the coaches applying. The last guy on the list is a name that I’ve seen in my comments since the season ended, and that’s Marco Stern. term and played five seasons with the Boston Bruins and had a 14-year career in the NHL. Since retiring, he served as the head coach of the German national team, an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings, and most recently as a head coach of the AHL Ontario reign. We all remember him as the guy that scoring the OT winner in the Winter Classic, a game that I was at and will never forget. And the Bruins have had a history of hiring former players as their coach. As a head coach of Germany, he won the silver medal at the 2018 Olympics, shocking the hockey world as they were not even favored to win a medal. I think the glaring issue with Sturm is he’s never been a head coach in the NHL yet. And Sweeney has said more than once that he’s looking for an experienced head coach. Sturm being familiar with the organization does help him because Sweeney did say he would want someone who wants to be a head coach of the Boston Bruins and would fit in with the culture and I think Sturm would fit perfectly. If I had to pick on the candidates I’ve spoke of, my first choice would be Sturm and my second choice would be Wcar. Don’t know why, but it’s always bothered me that the NHL teams always say they need experienced head coach, but if teams are always recycling head coaches, how can anyone get an experience? The Boston Bruins are a young team, and that isn’t changing anytime soon. So, I would want a coach that can grow with the team, be able to motivate and install systems for that young team while keeping them competitive. Don Sweeney said this is a retool and not a rebuild, and expects the Bruins to be back in the playoffs next season. So, my gut is telling me it’s Jay Woodraftoft, but this is the Boston Bruins, so anything is possible. As of last week, everyone thought the new head coach would be Misha Donskov, and that doesn’t look like he’ll even get an interview at this point. Since Sweeney was extended, it sounds like the Bruins want coaching position filled so they can move forward with the offseason plan. I guess we’ll all see in the upcoming weeks what happens. But I want to hear from you. Who do you think will be the Boston Bruins next head coach? That’s a wrap on today’s video. To stay up to date on all the news surrounding the Boston Bruins, please subscribe and drop me a like. If news breaks surrounding the Boston Bruins, be sure to check out the channel. If you’ve already subscribed to the channel, thank you and I’ll see you next time.

According to Pierre Lebrun from TSN, the Boston Bruins hope to have the head coaching interviews done by next week.

In this video, I will break down all the names mentioned by Lebrun and go over their coaching careers.

I want to hear from you, though. Who do you think should be the Boston Bruins’ next head coach?

Stay updated on all Boston Bruins news. Please subscribe to the channel.

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Source

Lebrun – https://x.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1925600568581710012

Time Stamp

Intro 00:00
Sacco 00:54
Leach 2:15
Richardson 2:51
Love 3:44
Woodcroft 4:37
Sturm 5:46
closing 6:38

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