EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with New Bruins Coach Marco Sturm

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with New Bruins Coach Marco Sturm

and as promised welcome back to the TD Garden we have Marco Sturm 30th head coach in Boston Bruins history on set with us with of course Jud and Brick marco thanks for being on our show we’ve been uh watching you do the media tour i’m going to embarrass myself here but try to say Vilman Zuruk in Boston oh how’ I do dunkishin okay very good so you did good yeah as as I said we’ve been kind of watching you do the tour and that’s going to be where my first question starts with you i wasn’t going to be here but just in understanding the uh you know the impact this isn’t normal for all NHL franch franchises to cover this day with so many people your day is going to be a very long one and I know it’s the day that you’ve you know you’re being announced so I know you’re prepared for it but you know from playing here this is going to bleed into the season the media the questions the attention how prepared and how much are you going to embrace that as the head coach no and I know it’s part of it right it’s part of the gig especially when you’re we in Boston so I know it as a player so that that definitely helped all right and it it will help it it’s not going to be pretty all the time like just like today i know that too so you know having that experience uh I think it will prepare me a little bit better uh going into the season in terms of uh the job now that the process is completed you’re now the new head coach of the Boston Bruins there were a number of issues with this team from a year ago when you don’t meet spec expectations and and you lose i’m I’m just curious the first order of business is is it all about preparation for training camp it is i mean first of all I think my staff has to get completed first i think that’s that’s right now and and then after that yes absolutely it’s about it’s about us um it’s about uh our system I want to put in place it’s about you know uh training camp game uh day one because what I’m hearing and and coming from a lot of players they didn’t have that good training camp coming out last year you know could be different reasons i I really don’t care um but not not I think not under my watch so I I think that’s that’s something want to it’s going to be uh uh different it’s going to be good it’s going to be a new voice right um I’m going to demand a lot but I also you know I’m going to push it right from day one because I I know how important it is you know and and you know how important the culture is and you spoke about that at length in your press conference earlier today that we were able to carry and listen in and I’m just trying to get a visual of what that locker room can look like because it needs to be reestablished it was the envy of the league for about 20 years took a hit last year how do you go about restructuring that yeah no and the good thing is I’m not by myself you know and I mentioned that too i still believe we have a really good core of players and and I talked to all of them all right i talked to all of them but right away I can tell they they they have the Bruins DNA so it’s not like I I’m going to start from scratch no um I think that l leadership group I think that I’m going to work closely together right uh those guys have to drive that bus and I need them and we need them and and starts with preparation starts with even practice right it starts training camp you know those are the things uh I’m going to be the front runner but I also need those guys and when they do that you know what it’s going to trickle because it’s the the young guys will follow all right and that’s that’s how I learned here as a young guy that’s how I learned from from older guys that’s probably you learn from that’s right some from different guys too that’s that’s just the way it is uh but somebody has to do it and I felt like yes there was a lot of injuries last year but it kind of you know got forgotten a little bit you know the the the pride um the energy what you have to bring in every day for the Bruins so one of the things that Brick talked about just how much uh the culture was the envy here uh in Boston around the National Hockey League and you were part of that almost from the get-go when Patrice Berseron was first coming into the organization zadeno Charo was signed as a free agent you were already here at that point uh but one of the things that whether it was Klo Giulianne or subsequent coaches they never felt like that they had to exert themselves that they felt like the room ran itself i guess now in the position that the Bruins are in do you feel like you have to have a little bit more influence in the room with some of the changes that have taken place yeah for sure i mean I’m listen I’m I’m a new guy and I’m uh I have uh different thoughts and different ideas how I want to approach things and and you know these guys are so used to from you know uh from I’m not saying that the same they had four different coaches i know it’s different but uh but on the other side it was kind of like the same you know like the way they played so it’s it’s going to be just refreshing a little bit uh it’s going to be a little different but but end of the day yeah no I I I I definitely um uh you know I have to put my foot down here right away from the start because I don’t want any gray area in my game you can’t think about that right so it’s going to be you know with me it’s going to be very clear uh the way I wanted to play the way I want to um you know uh see us going more moving forward uh I I’m I think the one thing I learned I stick with the process you know um there will be some up and downs but you got to stick with it though you know and that’s going to be I think it will be the challenging thing too you know especially with media and everything like that so there’s it’s going to be different but you got to stick with it and that’s why you You know I I mentioned it today it’s not just me i I need I need more than that i need my my staff i need my players because we all we all have to chip in one of the uh other topics I think that was pretty prominent in today’s uh media session was offense and evolving the offense and without getting into X’s and O’s on how you do and I know you talked about you know starts in your own zone i mean that’s how you get a better offense it’s how you get out of your own end i understand all that how difficult as a as a head coach in the NHL is it to teach offense yeah no it’s the funny part is and and you know I see I saw it with my my kids i I’m telling it was my kids like my Ontario rain kids I call the kids i saw them with them like okay do you actually want to score you know that was one of the question I always had on them because you got to show me all right when you’re in offensive zone you can have the best structure you want all right but show me show me that you want to score show me that you want to actually you want that puck you got to show me that you want to be front of the net and work for it all right i think that alone that mentality you got you got to have and if you look at perfect example yesterday again or even the finals if you look at the Florida Panthers right now right they go to the net right and not just one guy they got everyone and they go to the net they throw pucks through the net uh different ways to do it but but they’re hungry you know and that just alone I think that’s that’s something I I I noticed from from the younger generation I think uh uh from from the last three years and that’s something I’m going to I’m I’m going to have a different mindset i’m going to try to teach it i’m got to show it and I got to I got to pretty much tell them every day too you know this is part of the job part of the summer obviously has to be and you mentioned it that uh you’ve already had some conversations with a lot of veteran guys but how important will be for you to make those connections between now and the start of training camp so they’re able to execute the things that you want no communication for me it’s always it’s always a big thing and um you got to have a good relationship and it starts right now right and that’s why I was calling a lot of guys and even a lot of guys actually reached out too so it was a little bit of combo so it was nice to see um guys are really excited i think uh everyone is is is ready for for a little bit of change and uh but again it is important because end of the day I I want the best out of my players and I think when you have an open relationship and and and and and be fair um but also honest I think you will get that and uh and again it goes goes back to that leadership group because those are the guys and it starts with them one of the aspects of a team that’s in a rebuild or a retool to get back to being a competitive playoff team and a team that’s going to challenge for the cup you have to have young guys mature develop and become key players in your lineup on a regular on a regular basis each night and help you win a lot of hockey games that is going to be one of the challenges that you face with some of the young players that the Bruins have on the roster right now how do you go about getting the most out of those guys cuz you have coming from a player development side yeah and again you have to pick them up right away i think those guys you know you got to again you got to build that relationship right away with them and uh again those uh unfortunately we don’t have too many all right uh I think uh I think Don Sween is working on it right now i think it’s it’s really exciting actually to have lot lots of picks coming up the next three years but it’s going to get take time so for me uh I don’t have that time but I also you know I’m going to focus on the guys uh we have uh in our recurring lineup and uh again they those guys uh um you know they got to earn it too first of all um but on the other side we got to help them i got to help them to to get to the next level and I I think in the past I proven this is one of the things I like to do i enjoy to do uh working with those young kids patrice Berseron talked about how helpful you were to him when his NHL career was still in its infancy and I’m curious what your message was to Bergie then and will it mirror some of the message that you’re going to convey to some of these young players now yeah I mean and uh believe it or not um I was actually a quiet guy you know in the locker room uh even when I played I was very quiet i think coaching changed me a little bit now I got to you know I got to talk and talk and talk but um what I did I I think most importantly I was I lead with uh example right and uh I again he was sitting right beside me the five six years I was here i think he saw me preparing every day um take care of my body uh uh how you know how I treat every practice like a game you know uh with lots of energy lots of pride um lots of emotions and uh I think we just feed off each other and I think he just just by doing that just by watching me I think he he would hopefully agree he he would see that one of the uh words that Don Sweeney used a couple times when people asked him what was important to him in finding a coach and also how you stood out out of 14 candidates that’s a lot of a lot of candidates to be interviewing he used the word the the path the path that he took was very important to me anyone could look up your resume we know it uh very fantastic resume starting with team Germany like you said when you really fell in love with coaching but I’m just curious uh not from a technical standpoint what your resume looks like but more emotional and mental what that learning curve what that path was that Don saw that you are ready for this job right now yeah know I I took a little bit a different route right I took it a little bit the harder way but again I I I had to know too where I’m at as a coach what do I you know what are my goals and I think yes with the German national team I came over but even in LA as assistant coach I think it it took me a year or two okay what is exactly what exactly what I want to do right do I want to be a head coach or more like assistant for 20 more years um or but soon really soon I I thought okay no I I head coach that’s me I’m a way better head coach and assistant I’m not going to lie but this is me and and That’s why um and then the job came up in Ontario and that’s why there was no question i said I’m going to I’m going to chase my my goal uh to be a head coach here in the national hockey team and I’m talking to a few people only a few and they advised me that’s what that’s the way you have to go and for me there was it was a no-brainer and I didn’t care if I have to drive the bus for for 20 hours i I didn’t really care and uh again I I wanted I wanted to do that i uh even left my family at home so that that even alone I think shows a lot that that I had something in mind and I wanted to chase and and and it’s nice to get rewarded i think we have a pretty good handle on Marco Sturm the man uh I’d like to get to the essence of your coaching philosophy if I can i don’t know if you can express it in a short amount of time but you know people would say well goending team defense strength down the middle do you do you still believe in those three pillars or has the game changed that that you the essence of your coaching philosophy is different yeah no I mean a lot lot the same but a lot different um or new or whatever you want to call it but I think the defensive part of the game I think that that it’s really strong in me you know uh I think that’s something we built here here and they still have it and that’s something I don’t want to lose i I believe in playing good defense that creates a lot of lots of offense as well right do we want to spend too much time in our ozone no we don’t but that’s I think that’s the part now where I jump in now or this new generation of coaches when you get the puck all right what are you going to do about it are you going to just going to uh play slow or you going to uh uh play with pace and and having again having that mindset right away to uh be ahead of some other teams all right uh I think that’s something I I’m I’m big on um transition team uh uh transition game I would say and and then to uh work towards uh entries in uh in Ozone right and again Ozone we touched on it a little bit uh being more hungry hungry around the uh the net and and finding ways to score but I think overall that if you look at the games right now in today’s game it’s the long I call it the long game right it’s a transition game it’s a neutral zone game a little bit and um and again I think that’s something we we can definitely improve marco one of the the things that you talked about was Daryl Sutter Clo Julian the impression that they made on you but if I look across your 900 plus game NHL career you played for some strong personalities whether it was Daryl or Ron Wilson uh Mike Sullivan Elaine Vinho Clo Julian we mentioned in there uh as well but what do you find yourself taking from from those guys specifically where you’re like “Wow I’m really I’m going to employ this.” you maybe you employed it as an assistant coach with the Kings or in the American Hockey League as a head coach with a rain yeah the the you always want to get the the the good things out of those coaches you think who are the best and for me clothe and uh I mentioned it before uh Deros were the best so that’s the old school mentality you know u being very honest but also hard and fair i think that’s something definitely in me and the other part you know yeah you I seen it with some different coaches too but I think the other part is it’s me that’s who I am i think that that that makes me uh uh maybe not unique but that makes me I think a good coach right and I had uh um I had Nate Thompson remember him nate Thompson he was one of my assistant coaches last year and uh in Ontario and he was uh he came in one day and I have to share that story he came in one day and he’s like um because I we played the same system as the Kings right um or we tried to let’s put it that way but it’s he knows because sitting beside me every day in the coaches room he he knew my thoughts right how I want to play and he came in he’s like “Just be you right just be you because you’re better than anyone else and that’s exactly what I did and just off you know off that moment I I think I really realized that I’m actually really good too so I have my own thoughts my own ideas yes I I I I learned a lot a lot from other coaches but this just uh that alone that conversation with Nate Thompson uh came a long way you’ve had some already very clippable and quotable moments uh saying just be you and and this is me and one of them we wanted to focus on is when you said this means more referring into your your position with the Boston Bruins you said you know you had your experience with the San Jose Sharks and that the timing is everything can you expand on the this means more outside of what it means to your family what it means because this is a city that you obviously embraced you and that you spent time with but that this means more is it just that where you are in your life right now as well how much time we have i think like two minutes but it’s longer it’s longer than Yeah yeah to keep it short it’s a combination of everything it’s I’m a big family guy um it’s about my family they they they absolutely love this city um they grew up here they had good memories they now we all meet again here because my kids are in colleges around here so you can’t write a better script right um the other part is just the memories I had when I played here the success we had the you know building something um you know even with the fans in in the bag like it was just incredible right and uh and now even here me as a coach so uh you know I talked about the timing uh where we at as a team right now and I it just the also the age uh uh you know I’m 36 uh 4 36 I wish 46 years old but I the path I went you know the last seven years to really took my time to really um um you know get the to get the job at the right time it just I don’t know it doesn’t feel real yet but all I feel like it all came together at the right time at the right spot and that’s why soon as I saw Don Sweeney I was like “Oh my god that’s this is exciting.” And that’s why I was really hard on it I I pushed it probably through my um presentations i had the interviews a little bit harder um because of it you know um Yeah yeah it sounds like what I love and I love it there’s so much intentionality uh behind your path and your journey you didn’t follow into it like you said there’s some sacrifices leaving your family very intentional we have about a minute left um and so not a lot to give an answer if you don’t mind me just throwing in you mentioned this leadership group and this core Marco but no named captain for now is that going to um affect things for you with how how more vocal you are in the room yeah you know I mean um end of the day I um I even told uh uh Dawn that uh yeah end of the day I I I do want a captain yeah doesn’t have to be right now but I think we we touched on it a little bit not too much i think moving forward we’re going to have more conversation about it but the other thing you got to know is I don’t actually uh I mean I I seen the past and Makavoy and Lindo i seen him play but I don’t really know him as a person so I think uh having that chance just to meet him and be around them and I think that then I can actually tell uh management what I think but as of right now it’s I think it’s a little bit too early um I don’t know yet what they think but uh those convers conversation definitely will come come up uh this

A new era in Boston has begun as the Bruins introduce Marco Sturm as the 30th head coach in team history. The new Bruins coach joined the NESN team: Sophia Jurksztowicz, Judd Sirott & Andy Brickley following his introductory press conference. Sturm spoke about his plans for the organization, coaching style & what it means to him to be coaching the team that he once skated for.

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