The Boston Bruins are in need of exorcism. The first part of that exorcism was in the form of head coach Jim Montgomery. Boston fired their coach on Tuesday, appointing Joe Sacco as the interim head coach. But will that be enough to change the culture and spark the Bruins this season?
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Ever since Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, and David Krejci moved on, Boston has had a weirdness going on. The culture of the Patriot Way, which became the Bruin Way, seems to have evolved into a culture of its “All About Me and Not About the B.”
As legendary coach Herb Brooks, who coached the Miracle on Ice United States Team that beat the Soviet Union in 1980 and then won the Gold Medal against Finland, “The Name on the Front is A Heck of More Important Than the Name on the Back.”
And it seems that, that is the culture in Boston right now. Do we think if Chara and Bergeron were still there, the contract negotiations for David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman would have taken this long? Probably not.
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Those guys would have fallen in line and taken less to keep a winning culture. Instead, Pastrnak’s new deal was signed several seasons before the trade deadline at $11 million AAV. McAvoy’s getting $9.5 million on AAV, and took some time. Not to mention the Swayman situation this past offseason.
There was too much noise surrounding Swayman. Those discussions were way too public, from his appearances on several podcasts and shows to General Manager Don Sweeney and President Cam Neely coming out holding a press conference to talk about it.
That was not the Bruin way. Those discussions always happened in-house and led to the dysfunction that occurred at the start of the season. Then Swayman misses training camp and has not played well. Add in the fact that Swayman’s buddy Linus Ullmark was traded away and his bitter feelings about his new extension taking so long. The culture in the room needs a shock to the system.
The Boston Bruins still have the element in the room that got Bruce Cassidy fired after the 2022 season. Remember, the Winnipeg Jets shocked their locker room after Blake Wheeler was stripped of the captaincy. The following season they bought him out.
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There is a reason why the Winnipeg Jets are playing so well right now. Besides their coach, Scott Arniel, and the moves by General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, they got the buy-in from the players and players who did not want to be there are gone, too.
Wheeler was one of them, who butted heads with former coach Rick Bowness. Again, everyone asked, how they could bring back the same team after those comments in 2023 after the Jets lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. Cheveldayoff made a tough decision and knew the culture had to change.
Don Sweeney in Boston is feeling the heat, but his comments on Wednesday made it clear that he understands that the elements in the room and the culture have to get back to what they were for this team to be successful.
#NHLBruins GM Sweeney, “We’re going to identify the guys that love being here, love representing the Boston Bruins, and if they don’t, then I’ll make some changes as a result of that and performance will drive it.”
— Shawn Hutcheon (@ShawnHutcheon) November 20, 2024
As Sweeney said, “He wants guys who want to be in Boston and play for the Bruins. He will change if those guys don’t want to be there.”
It is a tough task, but Brad Marchand is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Do the Bruins bring him back? Does Boston look to move other players out in money-in, money-out type deals? Trent Frederic is another player that teams like and would want if the Bruins were not a playoff team.
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Elias Lindholm‘s and Nikita Zadorov‘s contracts are not working out. As NHLRumors.com stated, these contracts made you go, “Whoaaa?” But they are not the problem.
It feels like the problem is those who were there when Cassidy left and, as reports have indicated, said, “He (Cassidy) was too hard on them.”
This is the second group to have a coach fired in three seasons. We all saw the spat with Brad Marchand on the bench and David Pastrnak’s benching.
“…There’s still 60 games to go. This group is capable of more and that’s what we’re going to expect from them.”
— Shawn Hutcheon (@ShawnHutcheon) November 20, 2024
Something is off with the Boston Bruins, and they need a culture change to turn things around. If things do not turn around, the general manager could be the one to go next.
Don Sweeney: “If we don’t get it done it falls back on me in terms of player personnel”#NHLBruins
— Michael Sullivan (@_MikeSullivan) November 20, 2024
It will be interesting to see where things go with the Boston Bruins and their roster.