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In the wake of the second straight year with no postseason gates in the Hub, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney confirmed on Thursday that head coach Claude Julien, the club’s all-time leader in wins by a coach, will return for his 10th season behind the Boston bench.
“I emphatically believe that Claude [Julien] is the coach that can take us through what I’ll describe as what has been a bumpy transition period this year,… Sweeney, whose team finished with 93 points and in ninth place in the Eastern Conference in his first year as GM, said at TD Garden on Thursday.
Sweeney also noted that he ‘believes’ in Julien as a coach and that his structure aligns.
“He’s never, ever wavered in the fact that this is the place he wants to be,… Sweeney said of Julien, who has been behind the Boston since the 2007-08 season. “And he’s ridden us up to the good time, and now we’re at a lower point, and we want to go back to the point where he knows he can get us.
“And I think that speaks volumes about him as a person and my confidence in him as a coach.…
While it’s a tough call to make when a frustrated fanbase is screaming for blood, keeping Julien as the coach, and instead focusing on giving him a better group to work with is the right call for the Black and Gold. One wrong coaching decision and the Bruins take two steps backwards, and make Julien a longed for old friend, which is something Sweeney at least seems cognizant of in this decision.
The Bruins did make a slight tweak to their staff, as it was revealed that assistant coach Doug Houda, an assistant with Boston since 2006 (Houda was part of the Dave Lewis staff but stuck around when Julien came on board), will not return for an 11th season with Boston. The futures of fellow assistant coaches Doug Jarvis and Joe Sacco are unknown, at least as of right now.
It will be interesting to see where Sweeney and the Bruins go in terms of finding another assistant coach for Julien, and whether or not it’s a guy that they could use being Julien’s replacement if the team stumbles out of the gate next season, something that would surely put Julien on thin ice.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.