BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have acknowledged that their underperformance this season led to the dismissal of head coach Jim Montgomery. The team made the decision to part ways with Montgomery on Tuesday after an 8-9-3 start, as the Bruins have struggled across the board and have yet to find their rhythm after a lackluster training camp.
On Wednesday, players took responsibility for their role in the team’s struggles, expressing feelings of guilt over the situation. Brad Marchand, in particular, admitted that he has not met his usual standards in the first 20 games of the season and echoed the sentiment that the team’s poor play directly contributed to Montgomery’s firing.
“It’s a very disappointing and frustrating day. This is a reflection of our play, and it could have been avoided,” said Marchand. “If we had done our job, he’d still be here. I feel terrible. As a group, we let down a really good coach and person, and it’s hard not to think about the impact on his family. It’s just a tough day.”
David Pastrnak shared similar emotions, describing the past 24 hours as both sad and difficult due to the loss of Montgomery, not only as a coach but as a person. “At the end of the day, we, as players, are responsible for our performance, and we weren’t getting it done,” said Pastrnak. “Because we didn’t get the job done, we lost a great coach and an amazing human being.”
Charlie McAvoy also reflected on the situation, acknowledging that the team’s poor performance led to the current crisis. “It really started with a lot of self-reflection — looking in the mirror and seeing where we went wrong,” he said. “We’ve fallen short of our standards, and now we need to figure out how to get back on track.”
In the wake of Montgomery’s departure, Joe Sacco has been named interim coach for the remainder of the season. Sacco, who has been with the Bruins since 2014 and has learned from both Montgomery and former coach Bruce Cassidy, is excited to take on the role but expressed that the circumstances surrounding his opportunity are bittersweet.
“We have to take some responsibility for what happened,” Sacco said. “We, as a staff, need to correct this and move forward, ensuring that the team gets back to where we expect them to be.”