Boston coach Jim Montgomery, who led the Bruins to the greatest regular season in NHL history but never got them past the second round of the playoffs, was fired Tuesday, a day after the below-.500 team lost to last-place Columbus to extend its losing streak to three games.
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Just 20 games into his third season as Boston's head coach, Jim Montgomery was fired by the Bruins on Tuesday, and we're expecting to learn more Wednesday about the change of leadership on the ice.
With the team having a rough start to the season, something needed to happen. But while some fans say this shakeup could spark the B's, others are questioning if Montgomery was really the one to blame.
Montgomery, 55, was in the final year of his contract. General Manager Don Sweeney said he is a very good NHL coach and an even better person but the team's inconsistency and performance in the first 20 games of the season has been concerning -- the Bruins have only won 8 games.
The Bruins finished with more than 100 points in each of Montgomery's first two seasons — including a record-setting debut, when their 65 wins and 135 points were both the most in NHL history. But the team lost in the first round of the playoffs that year and advanced to only the second round last season. Montgomery finishes his Bruins career with 120 wins in 184 games -- which is objectively great.
Fans who spoke to NBC10 Boston are split on the issue.
"It's not the coach," fan Tim Rennie said. "It's not the coach, and it's the players and unfortunately the GM is going to take it out on the coach."
"We have the right players," fan Sean Cullinan argued. "We have the right players on the ice, we just need a coach that is confident in these players."
"The team has a leadership problem. The coach isn't going to fix it," Matt Greene, another fan, said.
"I think it'll spark the team," Josh Anderson said. "I would expect them to win the next game immediately."
The team plays next on Thursday against Utah. Interim coach Joe Sacco, a Medford, Massachusetts, native, and Boston University alum, will be behind the bench. This is his 11th season with the team; he was most recently serving as the associate coach.
