Bruins Name Marco Sturm 30th Head Coach In Franchise History

Bruins Name Marco Sturm 30th Head Coach In Franchise History

we’re back on Boston has end of the chat we now have our guy Andy Brickley joining us you always catch Andy Brick in the booth with Jud Surat all season long with the Bruins brick marco Sturm the next head coach for the Boston Bruins officially announced what do you think of Sterm being the next guy to leave this franchise yeah I’ve been waiting for the official announcement for the last several days i know a number of outlets were reporting that this was a done deal so I guess it was just a matter of time you know I like the progression that he has gone through to be where he is today meaning you know he ran the German national program and when you have success on the international stage when you’re really an underdog that Germany was going into the Olympics and in the international stage best on best to have that kind of success I think speaks to his ability not only X’s and O’s but getting the buyin from the players and it’s relatively a short tournament so I think that’s good news and then I think to be an assistant coach at the National Hockey League level for several years and then that progression to be a head coach in the American Hockey League for three or four more years I think he’s on the right track and I think if we all remember Marco when he played for the Bruins quality guy standup guy played the game the right way was a student of the game so I think he checks a lot of boxes when you’re talking about hiring the next Bruins head coach brick the first thing you said is how I felt we’ve all been waiting for this to be officially announced uh you know what took so long not so much even the announcement but just a process do you think it was just the Bruins doing their due diligence cuz I thought they would have named this a week or two ago brig yeah I think that’s what it was i have to believe that that’s what it was that it was their due diligence and the process that they wanted to go through and they wanted to make sure that they gave everybody that was a potential candidate you know a fair shake at this thing um I immediately think about Joe Sacko and I hope that they were really upfront with Joe that if even if he was in the mix if he’s not going to be the next head coach give him that opportunity because there were a number of vacancies in the league and and if Joe was going to look to make a move I hope he had that opportunity to interview for jobs that have now since been filled that being said I do think it was just the process that the Bruins wanted to go through i have to give him that much credit you know this is a huge I heard you guys talking earlier is a huge off season for the Bruins management team they have to make the right decisions they have to identify players across the league that they need to go either acquire through free agency or through trade they got to hit on their draft pick they got the seventh overall pick you can’t miss there they do have a ton of draft capital which puts them in the trade market if you want to travel uh trade for established players so I think the most important thing though if I can expand on that just a little bit they need young players to develop and become impactful NHL players on a nightly basis in order to round out this roster if they’re going to go be right back into that contending category yeah that and that’s what points to what you say of the substantial experience he has head coach at Ontario Reign of the AHL rick I want to ask you as a guy that played four years in Boston and now lives here you’re part of the fabric of the sport here you’re an institution we love you Brick we love you that’s a short way to put it marco Stern played five seasons for the Bruins how valuable is that experience of being a guy that played here and not just to relate to the players but also to be in that seat in that offense have that job leading the Boston Bruins well I think it’s important but I think it’s more important the type of player that he was and how he dealt with the pressures of playing in Boston the expectation and to deal with the media and I think he I think he handled it extremely well when he was here as a player you know they weren’t the best of years when he first got here winning was tough to come by um but then they they grew as a team they grew as a group they got they got back to what it meant to be a Boston Bruin and I think Marco had a lot to do with that in his own way and I think that uh that he’s a lifer when it comes to hockey and and I and I mean that in a very positive way that’s a compliment because I think he loves the game and I think for him to be backed affiliated with the Boston Bruins where he had some level success of course he came over in the huge Thornon trade and and and you all have opinions on on whether that was a good trade or not but uh but he was one of the assets that they got i thought that was was a valuable return and I think his experience in Boston will certainly help him as he prepares to be the next head coach brick and hearing you talk about the off season it it kind of made me think of yes the last few seasons around here have been disappointing however I mean if I’m a free agent I would love the idea of being a part of maybe like the New Look Bruins is that fair to I I know there’s still some stars here but it’s like if I was a free agent the history of this franchise the opportunity that I have to come into sort of a new world here i would love that in terms of you know the team pitching me do you think that’s a that’s sort of an advantage i I know a lot of fans are down right now because of the disappointment but at the same time the future feels exciting to me Brick right for the last 20 years the culture of the Boston Bruins has been the envy of the National Hockey League it’s taken a hit it’s taken a hit over the last 12 months or so and and that’s why again it’s a big offseason to reestablish what it means to be a Boston Bruiner and to be in that room but I think it is a destination city it should be if you’re a free agent you want to come to an original six you want to come to Boston and hey over the last decade that Donnie Sween has been the GM they’ve done a lot of winning during the regular season you know our disappointments have been the postseason when they’ve had very good hockey teams and and that’s the that’s the hard part to handle because you you expected such deep playoff runs and didn’t get them consistently enough but if you wanted to be a National Hockey League player and play for original 16 and wear the black and gold man how could you say no to that you know and and the Bruins will spend they’ll spend to the cap the problem is they need to identify the right players the right types of players in order to get this retool going in the right direction and you point out the identity what and you point out how Marco Sturm was as a player what do you think the identity of this team will be they have the pillars they have the vets the guys that are here long term and they have a lot of young guys as well that will be contributors at the NHL level you know you look at guys like David Posal Makavoy Jeremy Swayman right the three pillars that there’s really this team is going to be founded on unless one of them gets moved in a deal and and you don’t want to waste any of their career years on a five-year plan so if if you’re going to get this thing turned right around and get right back into the competitive balance of the National Hike League and compete for compete for a division championship and make the postseason you know you when you identify those players those players got to want to come here and be part of the solution you know they went out and spent last year and when anybody that signs on July 1st at noon time they’re going to get more years and more money than they deserve correct it’s just the it’s just the it’s just the the price of of business that’s the way it gets done and both those players that they signed you know Zidora and Lynholm they didn’t live up to expectations their own expectations and I expect them to be closer to what we expect this year improvement and be part of the solution you know we’re talking about that culture they need to be a big part of it and anybody else that trade for or sign has to be part of that new culture but with the same the same traits and the same here’s how we want to play the game here’s how we operate our room here’s how we make each other accountable and I think once they have that and they rebuild that internal locker room and that togetherness and check your ego at the door then they have an opportunity to do the right things okay we’re all talking about culture and and I get it let’s say they get that right Brick let’s let’s spin this forward what does it look like on the ice because I’m hearing brand i’m hearing history uh you know all these things are important culture but I also need that sort of that old school brand that Bruins brand but also how hockey is played nowadays what will that look like on the ice to you what what give me a vision of what you want this Bruins team to look like to compete for Cubs schematically as it comes to the team on the ice here’s what I believe i believe in goalending team defense and strength down the middle i think those are three most important things of all championship teams then you start getting into your depth of your roster but you need that strength down the middle particularly the way the Bruins have always defended you know they don’t play man-on-man they play a hybrid in the defensive zone and they really rely on quality center play to help out their defense you know you could have two stud defensemen and four other guys but if you have four strong centers you’re going to defend really really well those centers will help out the D you’ll you’ll you’ll you’ll deny you’ll own the middle of the ice you’ll get quick you know exits out of the defensive zone all the stuff that wasn’t there consistently enough last year for Boston so I need that strong center ice play now when you look at the center position I brought up Lynholm he needs to be the player that they expected him to be you know and and where do you go from there you know is Middlestat going to be one of your four sentiment you know is Frzen Mitten going to be a guy that’s going to be a regular we talked about young guys having to pop a little bit become solid NHL players uh you know who’s going to play with David Pastanak in the middle you know you need to have that strong center ice play and of course you need your top two defenseman to be healthy and productive players i need Makavoy to mature into the leader that he should be that he hasn’t become yet i need Lynholm to be healthy and and and be that you know that second layer of great defense that you have i’d like the Bruins to go out and get a top guy you know Zidorova wants to be that guy i’ll put him in my top four but I’m looking for a big three i think the trade Carlo hurt Boston in that regard because they didn’t have enough depth on the blue line right uh but they do need center ice play and they need to add to their top six okay and I don’t you like using that word bottom phrase bottom six you know like Yeah you think about 2019 right and you had Charlie Coyle he was your third line center is he a bottom six player no cuz he he’s a primary penalty killer he’s on your second power play don’t call it a bottom six forward when he’s one of your most important players so I don’t like to use that term but they need to get more talent in their top six if this is going to be a team that we want the Bruins to be yeah now as you see as the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs are laying out it’s now about top nines to your point it’s not about top six bottom six it’s who is top nine who is deep and and to your point Brick I’m not going to put this pressure on him but we’ll see what Sturm can get out of a Mason Larai a guy that shows flashes make it consistent matty Potra we saw the Flash got injured can he make a step forward and we’ll see what they do with the seventh overall pick what the age will be what the timeline look like for him to get to the level but that’s where Sturm has a playing experience to relate to their stars and has the AHL experience to know how to talk to relate communicate and get the most out of these young guys brick yeah and the thing that ties into that uh to your point you’re spot on you need the culture those young players need the culture to learn from and to feed off if you don’t have that young players are going to drift they’re going to do it their way they’re going to take shortcuts and you can’t allow that to happen so that’s why the culture has to be in place for these young kids to come in and be impactful guys brick as we’re waiting and waiting and waiting to see who this next coach was going to be George and I kept talking about will the the damn draft feels like it’s 5 minutes away i know it’s a few weeks away now that we know do you think this changes the way they’re going to draft like what’s your gut on what they’re going to take at number seven overall brick oh did he freeze uh he’s still a handsome man even when he’s frozen even look at that your question was so good your question was so good shout out to Andy Brickley for coming that’s a great question too you got to give me that ask a question ask it back to me ask it back to me so um do you believe now that the Bruins have a head coach in place what do you think the draft strategy is i mean for them it’s still to get better down the middle okay and I’m not trying to like we’re doing I think break was going to say that cuz we talked about that well you look at the number one overall prospect is a can’t miss defenseman Schaefer and yes there’s a James Hagens out there that the Bruins would love to get and I’m not saying just because he wears a BC sweater sure but there’s a lot of center depth in this draft and guys that are good 200 foot centers maybe a little smaller but good offensive and quick have high IQ that there are guys that you see the framework that can contribute at the NHL level and I think that’s what’s most important for the Bruins at the seventh overall pick you wanted to see top five bare minimum they got a bad poll by falling to seven in that lottery yeah which you needed an MIT degree to break down facts but at seven they could still get an impact center and again that adds to top nine need a good top nine need to be good down the middle brick’s list i I asked him point blank how do you get back to winning cups how would you like to see the Bruins sort of retool this he said in order goalending defense strength down the

The Bruins have named Marco Sturm as the 30th Head Coach in franchise history. George Balekji and Travis Thomas were joined former Bruin and NESN analyst Andy Brickley to discuss the hire. Marco Sturm has been the Head Coach of the AHL’s Ontario Reign for the last 3 seasons and was also the Head Coach for Team Germany when they won the silver medal. Marco Sturm will bring valuable experience to the Bruins bench that was lacking last season.

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