The Bruins announced today that they have hired Doug Jarvis as their new Assistant Coach.
Doug Jarvis was part of the Montreal Canadiens organization from 2003-2009. He was an associate coach with the Habs from 2005-2009, including part of the '05-'06 season when he worked under current Bruins Head Coach, Claude Julien. Prior to that, Jarvis served as the Head Coach of Montreal's AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Before joining the Montreal organization, the 55-year old Brantford, Ontario native was an assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars and Dallas Stars for 14 seasons. He has been out of the game since losing his job in Montreal following the '08-'09 season.
If you are wondering if this guy is reliable, look no further than his track record as a player. Jarvis is the hockey equivalent to Cal Ripken Jr. as the game's iron man. He holds the NHL record for most consecutive games played with 964 consecutive games played. In fact, he never missed a single game in his 13-year playing career that was split between Montreal, Washington, and Hartford.
Jarvis has had his named etched on the Stanley Cup five times. Four as a player for the Montreal Canadiens (1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979) and once as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars (1999). He also won the Selke Trophy in 1984 and the Masterton Trophy in 1987.
Jarvis will slide into Geoff Ward's old role as "the eye in the sky", while Ward will fill Craig Ramsay's old spot behind the bench along side the other Assistant Coach, Doug Houda.
Claude Julien had high praise for the new hire, saying "I just want to let you guys know how thrilled we are to have Doug Jarvis join our staff. I think when the job became available, the one thing we wanted to do was to be able to replace some of the experience we lost with Craig Ramsay. Having known Doug for a awhile and worked with him briefly in Montreal, I think his experience in coaching and playing was very valuable in our decision-making." Julien went on to say, "[We're] certainly happy to have him and without a doubt [he] will be a great asset to our hockey club".
Julien noted Jarvis' dedication to his work, commenting "He is one of those guys that will work hard and won't be counting the hours as far as what needs to be done. People that are passionate are people that do that and Doug is a very passionate person."
Jarvis is eager to get started with the B's and is excited to be involved with another Original 6 franchise, saying "I consider it a real privilege to have the opportunity to join an organization with such a great hockey history and tradition as the Boston Bruins and I'm very much looking forward to becoming part of the hockey staff in Boston".