There’s no doubt about it that the Boston Bruins have faced their fair share of struggles over the years. From a game 7 Stanley Cup Finals loss in 2019 to winning the President’s Trophy in 2020 yet failing to make it past the second round in the playoffs, fans were hopeful that the Bruins would turn it around in recent years.
During the 2022-2023 season, the Boston Bruins were the team to beat. They finished first in the league, winning the President’s Trophy, set numerous NHL records including most consecutive home wins to start a season and were the fastest team to reach 50 wins. Their 65-12-5 record was earned by the help of key players including captain Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and the goaltending duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark.
Pastrnak had one of the best seasons of his career that year, leading the team in goals (65), assists (52) and points (113). Swayman had a stellar .920% save percentage, Ullmark with .938%, proving that either one of them in goal would be a challenge for their opponents. Despite the record setting regular season the Boston Bruins had, and the first-round home advantage, they failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs as they blew a 3-1 series lead to the Florida Panthers.
It’s safe to say that after that extremely disappointing turn of events, Bruins fans were not happy, and a debate sparked as to who was to blame. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the Bruins lost captain Patrice Bergeron as he hung up his skates in the offseason. This left the team without a leader it desperately needed and had fans questioning the future of the team after a hopeful start under their new coach.
The Boston Bruins hired Jim Montgomery as their head coach in 2022. After their initially successful 2022-2023 regular season, fans had hopes that he would lead the team to yet another strong regular season in 2023-2024, and longer playoff run. While the Bruins’ record was not nearly as good as their 2022-2023 season, Montgomery did lead the team past the first round and into the second where they faced a familiar team. During the second round, the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins once again found themselves facing off, but this time Florida had the home advantage. Florida beat Boston in six games and the Bruins were once again sent home with fans looking for answers as to why the regular season Boston Bruins fail to perform the same in the playoffs.
In the offseason of 2024, the Boston Bruins lost Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators and were at risk of losing their other goaltender, Swayman, as well. Swayman and general manager Don Sweeney of the Bruins failed to reach a contract agreement for several months of the summer leaving fans questioning Sweeney’s ability to manage the team. Sweeney has been on fans’ radar for years with many pushing for him to be fired.
Going back to the 2015 draft, the Bruins had the No. 13, 14 and 15 overall picks where they selected Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn. It was a surprise to many as to why Sweeney did not select Mathew Barzal, who was considered a top contender at the time. Barzal ended up being selected 16th overall by the New York Islanders, where he still plays today. All three of the Bruins draft picks no longer play for the franchise yet Barzal remains a top player in the NHL for the Islanders. Sweeney’s most recent controversial move came just a few weeks ago on Nov. 19 when he fired head coach Jim Montogomery.
The Bruins started out this season with a tough 8-9-1 record which is the main reason Sweeney claims led to his decision. Fans were outraged stating that Montgomery was a key part of the Bruins success in past years as his tenure as head coach provided the Bruins with a 120-41-23 record. To make matters worse, just five short days later, Montgomery was hired as the head coach of the St. Louis Blues — the same team that beat the Boston Bruins in their painful 2019 Stanley Cup Game 7 matchup.
If this situation sounds familiar, it’s because it has happened before. In 2022, former head coach of the Bruins, Bruce Cassidy was fired and then shortly hired by the Las Vegas Golden Knights. To make matters worse, just one year later, Cassidy led the Golden Knights to their first ever Stanley Cup during the same record setting regular season the Bruins were projected to win it all.
Since firing Montgomery, the Bruins are 4-2-0 with one of their wins coming from their Centennial game against the Montreal Canadians on Sunday. Only time will tell if the Bruins coaching was the issue but if you ask me and many other Bruins fans, I think it’s time for general manager Don Sweeney to turn his attention to other potential issues within the franchise aside from the head coaches.