Bruins name ex-forward Marco Sturm as head coach to replace fired Jim Montgomery
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 2016.
The Bruins picked Sturm to replace interim coach Joe Sacco, who took over from Jim Montgomery in November and led the team to a 25-30-7 record — much of it after a trade deadline roster purge. Sturm becomes the 30th 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 20 games into this season, but with the team unable to challenge for a playoff berth general manager Don Sweeney traded captain Brad Marchand and other veterans and the Bruins stumbled to a 33-39-10 record overall, tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Only three teams in the league were worse.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
23 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Pacers take 1-0 lead into game 2 against the Thunder
Indiana Pacers (50-32, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14, first in the Western Conference) Oklahoma City; Sunday, 8 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -11; over/under is 227.5 NBA FINALS: Pacers lead series 1-0 BOTTOM LINE: The Indiana Pacers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Pacers won the last matchup 111-110 on Friday, led by 19 points from Pascal Siakam. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 38.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
On a broken toe, Francisco Lindor delivers win for Mets: 'We're watching greatness'
When Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Francisco Lindor could be available in Friday's series opener against the Rockies after keeping him out of the starting lineup for the second straight game, you just knew what eventually happened was a possibility. In the ninth inning with the score tied 2-2 and runners in scoring position with two outs, the Mets skipper called upon his shortstop -- hobbled by a fractured pinky toe -- to try and push across the go-ahead run. Advertisement Mendoza needed something; the Mets outside of Pete Alonso -- whose two-run double in the seventh put them ahead temporarily -- have struggled mightily this season with runners in scoring position. Entering Friday, Lindor was hitting only .189 with RISP, but the Mets needed their de facto captain and he came through, broken toe and all. Lindor pulled a sweeper into right field to score two runs to lift the Mets to a 4-2 win. "Special player, I've been saying it. Special talent. We're watching greatness," Mendoza said of Lindor after the game. "Continues to do what All-Stars do. Continues to show up in big situations on a day when he was in the dugout with a bat in his hand since the fifth inning, finally gets his chance and comes through for us." Advertisement Mendoza said that right before the game, when Lindor came away from hitting in the batting cages feeling ok, he knew he could use him. Ideally, Mendoza wanted to stay away from Lindor, especially knowing that it would have been a two-player move to replace him in the field for the bottom of the ninth, but as the game went on the second-year manager told Lindor in the eighth inning that if Tyrone Taylor's turn at-bat came up in the ninth, he was going to him. "For me and for a lot of people, we are spoiled," Alonso said of Lindor. "With him, he's a guy who is ready to strap on regardless... I see him do stuff like this all the time. I know it's hard to do. Battling through physical stuff, there's limitations. I have nothing but the utmost respect. He's a true pro and he embodies that." "It illustrates what type of person Francisco Lindor is," Kodai Senga, who allowed just one run over six innings on Friday, said through an interpreter. "A leader. He's just a superstar." So, how did Lindor prepare for his pinch-hit opportunity? The shortstop said he was ready because he discussed the possibility with Mendoza before the game and the team's trainers got him ready. Advertisement "Mendy had a great game plan from the beginning of the day, he told me what was in his mind. It was just a matter of the trainers," Lindor said. "They did a fantastic job, they prepped me the right way. They did everything in their power to get me on the field. Around the fourth or fifth inning, Mendy asked me if I was available to hit and I said yeah." This isn't the first time Lindor, who usually plays just about every game, has come up with heroics while not at 100 percent as a Met. Last season saw him overcome the flu to deliver a game-winning hit, and when last year's back issues first popped up, he delivered down the stretch, including help the team clutch a playoff berth. Lindor said he can feel he's not 100 percent at the plate, but knows he's not the only big league player playing through injury. So when he's good enough to play and help the team, he'll be ready. "The Lord has blessed me to play this game and stay on the field. When I'm not on the field, the trainers do a fantastic job. You see the results, but they are the one putting in the time to get me right and on the field. This training staff is one of the best, if not the best. Once it comes to those moments, I'm just there to make something happen. Just get a good pitch, and what happens happens. Don't let the moment get too big." Lindor hopes he's in the lineup on Saturday, but knows that he needs to see how he feels tomorrow and speak to Mendoza and the trainers. But even if Mendoza wants to give his shortstop another day off, he knows he can use him again when he needs a big hit.
Fox Sports
24 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Stanley Cup Final for old men: Brad Marchand and Corey Perry shine on hockey's biggest stage
Associated Press EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Brad Marchand and Corey Perry are by far the oldest players in the Stanley Cup Final. Marchand just turned 37 last month, and Perry is 40. Naturally, they combined for a third of the goals in Game 2 on Friday night, showing this is indeed a Cup final for old men, not for the earth but certainly in hockey. Marchand scored his second of the game to win it in double overtime for the Florida Panthers after Perry got the latest tying goal in the history of the final in the waning moments of regulation to give the Edmonton Oilers hope. "You saying he's old, or what?" teammate Seth Jones said of Marchand. 'I'm going to tell him you said that. He's a dog. He's a gamer. He's a competitor. He brings so much energy to our team on and off the ice.' Where does that energy come from to play 22 important minutes? Anton Lundell hopes it comes from him and fellow linemate Eetu Luostarinen, the pups keeping an older dog like Marchand feeling young. 'He likes to spend time and be around us,' said Lundell, who set up each of Marchand's breakaway goals. "He's in great shape, and it seems like nothing is stopping him.' Marchand is not slowing down in his 16th NHL season and 13th playoff run, the first away from the Boston Bruins. He is in the final for a fourth time, this one 14 years removed from his first when he and Boston also faced a Canadian team, the Vancouver Canucks, and won the Cup to keep the country's title drought going. His two-goal game came on the anniversary of scoring short-handed on Roberto Luongo in the 2011 final. Luongo now works for the Panthers in their front office and posted on social media after the game, 'Favorite player of all time.' "Lu is awesome," said Marchand, whose 10 goals in the final are the most among active players, one more than Perry. "Happy to be on his team.' Perry even longer ago helped beat a Canadian team in the final when he and Anaheim defeated Ottawa in 2007. He's playing for the Cup for a sixth time in his career and for the fourth time over the past five years and is still producing at important moments. His tying goal with 17.8 seconds on the clock in the third period was just the latest example. 'Determination, finding a way to find the puck and then obviously putting it in the net. He's got a skill for that,' Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. 'Knowing in the playoffs it's hard to score and you need guys around the net and finding ways, he's as good as anybody finding ways to score.' Plenty of folks might be surprised to see Marchand and Perry doing this at their advanced ages. Paul Maurice, who has coached more games than anyone in NHL history except for Scotty Bowman, is not one of them. Maurice credits rule changes coming out of the 2004-05 lockout and sports science around the league for paving the way for players to contributed later into their 30s and even 40s. 'I think we're coming into an age of that,' Maurice said. "A tremendous amount of care for the players, whether that's the meals that they eat, how we travel — there's a lot of money that goes into allowing these players to play. The old guys and the young guys benefit from the rule change, and they're better fit, conditioned athletes over their entire lives.' Marchand has his own routine, one that goes beyond the Dairy Queen Blizzard jokes that keep swirling around him this playoffs. He rode a stationary bike before overtime, something he likes to do after most periods. 'You're trying to keep your legs going in overtime," Marchand said. 'Keep them feeling good.' The Panthers are feeling good after acquiring Marchand at the deadline from Boston and unleashing him for goals in Game 2 that tied the series. Winger Matthew Tkachuk thinks Marchand scored two of their biggest goals during this run, aging like a fine wine. 'Hopefully he can keep it going,' Tkachuk said. Unreal player, unreal competitor. ... 'He could play till he's 47 the way he's going.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and recommended
