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Bruins announce multiple changes in hockey ops department |
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Ty Anderson
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It’s been almost two and a half months since the Bruins lost assistant coach John Gruden to the Maple Leafs organization. And with training camp officially opening later this week, it was beginning to look as if the Bruins were going to start things off with an undermanned coaching staff.
But Bruins general manager Don Sweeney confirmed that that would not be the case Monday, and did so with the official hiring of Wakefield, Mass. native John McLean as the team’s newest assistant coach.
McLean is far from what you’d consider a ‘new’ face to the organization, however, as this will actually be his second season with the club after serving as a ‘skills and skating consultant’ for the Black and Gold a season ago.
McLean has also been a regular at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena throughout the summer, and has been running the Bruins’ recent captains’ practices ahead of training camp. Prior to formally joining the Bruins last season, McLean co-founded Dynamic Skating, alongside skating consultant Tom Ford and former Bruins skills and skating coach Kim Brandvold in 2010. McLean was also the head coach of the Austin Prep varsity hockey team, and served as the head coach of Malden Catholic’s varsity hockey team before joining AP in 2022.
It’s expected that McLean will serve as an ‘eye in the sky’ coach for the B’s.
Elsewhere in the hockey ops department, the Bruins also confirmed the hirings of Derek MacKinnon and Milan Jurcina.
MacKinnon will serve as a pro scout for the Bruins after spending the previous six years with the Flames as the team’s director of player personnel. Prior to their run as a DoPP, MacKinnon was a pro scout for nine years between the Flames and Coyotes, and served as a video coach for the Dallas Stars for five seasons.
Jurcina, meanwhile, will begin his scouting career as a European scout for the Bruins. The 40-year-old Jurcina, who began his NHL career with the Bruins back in 2005 and appeared in 430 NHL games in total, recently retired from the pro game after spending the last four years in the Czech League.
And on the video team, the Bruins have added Dan Darrow as the team's new assistant video coordinator. Darrow comes to the Bruins after serving as an assistant coach of the U.S. U-18 national team. Prior to his time with the development team, Darrow spent seven seasons with the San Jose Sharks as a video coach.
The Bruins also announced role changes for both Josh Pohlkamp-Hartt and Campbell Weaver. Pohlkamp-Hartt, entering his sixth season with the club, will be the team’s new associate director of hockey analytics after spending the previous five seasons as a data scientist, while Weaver is now the director of hockey systems after spending his first four years as a data engineer.
The Bruins are expected to announce their full training camp roster on Tuesday.
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, HockeyBuzz.com or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter/X: @_TyAnderson.
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