Was there a contract extension for Jim Montgomery in Boston?
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet joined Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio. When asked about what happened in Boston with the Bruins, he said there was talk of a Jim Montgomery contract extension.
NHLRumors.com Transcription
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Scott Laughlin: And we’ll start with the first coaching casualty of the season Friedge. Big news yesterday afternoon in the fact that the Bruins parted ways with Jim Montgomery. And in some ways, it’s surprising, given his winning percentage. In other ways, maybe not so surprising. So, from your vantage point, and from what you know and from what you’ve been able to investigate, where did things go wrong between Montgomery and the Bs?
Elliotte Friedman: That’s a great question. I think it all went wrong this year. You know, I don’t think too many people were looking at a situation where people thought that this would be, that this would even be a consideration or a comment, and as a matter of fact, I do believe at one point, I don’t know how deep they got, I get different responses to this, but they were definitely talking about an extension. Like there was a chance that he was going to end up staying.
And then I really thought Cam Neely did an interview with the Boston Globe last weekend where he basically said everything has been unsettled since training camp. And I think that’s true. I think between (Jeremy) Swayman’s contract situation and (Brad) Marchand’s injuries, it just didn’t get off to a great start.
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And there were some times Scotty like that double shut out weekend a couple weeks ago, where we all thought it was going to be okay, and they sorted out. And it just never got there. And I think that (Elias Lindholm) and (Nikita) Zadorov haven’t been a great fit. I wonder if some of the contract stuff has taken its toll on the room.
And every team is due for a drop, right? It’s like nobody stays good for 20 straight years, and the Bruins have been good for a long time in a row. And I just wonder if it’s finally their turn.
NHLRumors.com Note: If General Manager Don Sweeney wanted to extend Jim Montgomery, he probably would have already. The fact that he left him as a lame-duck head coach meant the organization was thinking about making a coaching change.
It is a results-oriented business. Montgomery did not get it done in the playoffs. The start of the season added to the dysfunction in Boston, and there were rumblings entering the season that he was in the hot seat.
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