Jim Montgomery appears to be the winner for vacant Head Coaching position

We here at SCoC were gritting and baring our collective teeth wondering who the next head coach of the Bruins will be, and there have been plenty of names bandied about: David Quinn was a long-running choice for quite some time, there’s been discussion on Jay Leach coming back to the organization, Derek Lalonde took the Red Wings job so he left the table as an option, and now?

It appears the answer is “none of the above,” as multiple reports indicate that Jim Montgomery will be the next coach of the Bruins:

For those who don’t know much of Montgomery’s work; Jim got his start in the NCAA and USHL, getting the Denver Pioneers to a National Championship title, and a two time Clark Cup as Dubuque’s bench boss.

He then took a position as Dallas’ head coach, and had a respectable start with the Stars with a 60-43-10 record...but then the thing you probably do know about him reared it’s ugly head, as he was fired due to unprofessional behavior related to Alcoholism.

Montgomery, to his credit, immediately entered treatment and seems to have recovered well, having been an assistant with the Blues since 2020.

The Stars during his tenure were, analytically speaking? Pretty alright! Top 15 in the league in xGF%. Granted, it was a single season, but one can only imagine a team with Boston’s talent will likely keep them in the top 10, if not top 5.

Jim as a coach appears to be the polar opposite of what has been alleged of Bruce Cassidy: A personable, player’s coach type; the kind of coach that pretty much everybody who’s ever played under him has absolutely nothing but positive things to say.

Oh, and as the assistant for the St. Louis Blues? He got some good work done with them. That’ll probably help fans warm up to him.

We’ll of course, wait for official team confirmation, but for right now?

We’d like to welcome Jim Montgomery to the Boston Bruins!