Boston Bruins announce Marco Sturm as new head coach

BOSTON AP The Boston Bruins hired Marco Sturm as coach on Thursday to help the Original Six franchise get back to the playoffs after missing them for the first time since The Bruins picked Sturm to replace interim coach Joe Sacco who took over from Jim Montgomery in November and led the squad to a - - record much of it after a agreement deadline roster purge Sturm becomes the th head coach in Bruins history after spending the past three seasons as head coach of the AHL s Ontario Reign Sacco a Bruins assistant and former Avalanche head coach replaced Montgomery games into this season but with the association unable to challenge for a playoff berth general manager Don Sweeney traded away captain Brad Marchand and other veterans and the Bruins stumbled to a - - record overall tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference Only three teams in the league were worse CEO Charlie Jacobs revealed the results were absolutely unacceptable and apologized to the fans for the performance We owe you a better crew and we aim to deliver a better band he commented after the season I share your disappointment and frankly embarrassment on how poorly things played out over the curriculum of this season Sturm who was a Bruins forward from - is a former head coach and general manager for the German national company and spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings Sturm s Ontario Reign club went - - - and made three consecutive playoff appearances As a sportsman Sturm skated in career NHL games with Boston Florida Vancouver Los Angeles and San Jose the squad the drafted him in the first round in from - He recorded career goals and assists with a with a plus- rating Sacco was a candidate for the permanent job Others who reportedly received consideration were Washington Capitals assistant Mitch Love former Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson and Bruins assistant Jay Leach Montgomery was - - in two-plus seasons in Boston The Bruins finished with more than points in each of his first two years including a record-setting debut when their wins and points were both the majority of in NHL history But the band lost in the first round of the playoffs that season and advanced to only the second round last year The struggles carried over into the new season when Boston began - - and Montgomery was fired He was hired five days later by the St Louis Blues and was given a five-year contract the Blues reached the playoffs and lost in the first round in seven games to the Winnipeg Jets Boston never improved under Sacco Heading into the deal deadline with a three-game losing streak that left them at - the Bruins traded Marchand the only remaining member of their Stanley Cup championship group along with forwards Justin Brazeau Marc McLaughlin Trent Frederic and Charlie Coyle and defenseman Brandon Carlo to Toronto And they left Sacco on the bench to ride it out The depleted roster lost straight games the gang lost only in its record-setting - season under Montgomery and fell from feasible playoff contender to the NHL draft lottery Despite the disappointment the Bruins signed Sweeney to a two-year contract extension with unit president Can Neely saying it would help to have stability in the front office during the coaching search I am confident in the plan he has followed these past sparse months and excited for what s to come for our association the former Bruins forward announced of the former Bruins defenseman The expectations in Boston have inevitably been clear It s about winning championships AP NHL https apnews com hub nhl