Marco Sturm's diverse coaching journey was a key selling point, but will he prove to be the right guy?
'Most importantly,' stressed Sweeney, 'the path that our coach took to become the new coach of the Boston Bruins was very important to our search.'
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OK, look, Sweeney's had a fair amount of experience in hiring new coaches in recent years, and has proved to have a sharp eye overall, from
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That's the good and bad of it all. Had Sweeney and his front office coterie likewise infused their playing roster with talent to match that of the coaching roster, faithful followers of the Black and Gold today would be more excited about their favorite team vying for a Cup than trying to get into a whoop-ass frenzy around the new guy about to clutch a white board behind the bench.
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Sturm sure sounds and acts like a solid pick. His eagerness and sincerity came through as authentic at the introductory presser, staged 14 floors above Causeway Street. The view east out the window was murky. That was not a metaphor for where the Bruins stand at the moment. It was just an odd June porridge of fog and mist that blotted out what should have been a clear, splendid look at Boston Harbor and endless possibilities on the horizon. Perhaps another day.
'To be honest, I can't wait to just go in the locker room and just work with my guys,' said Sturm, the buoyant new bench boss in residence. 'That's what I love to do. That's what I want to do. And I can't wait for Day 1 to see the Bruins fans behind me or behind us and pushing us to the next level.'
Right now, the answer to that is more about Sweeney than it is about the former Bruin affectionately known as 'The German' by his teammates during his first tour here.
Marco Sturm (center) played for the Bruins from 2005 to 2010 after arriving from San Jose as part of the Joe Thornton trade.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Sweeney filled in a humongous blank with the coaching hire. It's his remaining big blanks on the roster, to be filled in and around July 1, that ultimately will decide if Sturm is fitted with wings of Mercury or is destined to be stuck in the same thick, soul-sucking muck that last season swallowed up Montgomery (now in St. Louis) and Sacco (hired as an assistant last week by the Rangers).
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We're talking about what Sweeney does in these next three weeks, perhaps a touch more if more time is needed to cobble a trade or two. It's a very tight window of opportunity. Sweeney needs to produce quickly, move now to the task like Scotty Bowman bellowed 'Vit! Vit!' to his legendary power-play unit during Canadiens' practices of the late-1970s.
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Be it by free agency, trade or the
'For me,' said Sturm, 'it all starts with how are we going to get [to the offensive net] ... it's coming out with the puck, we want to have the puck more. We've got to have better entries, for example, and not turn pucks over. I think that part was a big issue.'
Sturm promised he'll provide an offense with more structure, at the same time look for everyone to be 'more hungry' and perform with a 'better mind-set.'
'I want them to have that offensive mind-set and mentality of when we have the puck,' he added. 'We want to play with pace, and not just think the game but we want to play the game fast. It's not going to happen overnight, but it's something that we'll address right away.'
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Job One on Sweeney's franchiser fixer-upper list has to be adding some heft on the power play, which crashed last season at the rate not seen since the Wright Brothers' test pilots. Particularly vexing was an eye-aching 2 for 17 on the alleged advantage during an eight-game stretch across the new year. They rarely moved their feet fast enough to draw penalties, then did next to nothing with the few chances they were awarded.
'We have to find a way to be more connected, more predictable,' acknowledged Sweeney, 'and understand what our strengths are as a group [on the power play] . We spent a lot of time on it. Now, the personnel could change between now and opening night — but there are some guys that are going to go in and have to execute … we're going to attack that.'
Sweeney also needs to build more will and fight into the forward group for more effective 5-on-5 play. Stronger players, both of body and mind, are needed across the offense.
Sturm is right, it won't be an overnight wave of the wand for Sweeney to deliver the kind of goods we're seeing now in the
So can anyone, coach or GM or the mythical Mercury, take these next three weeks, fill in the many holes around the broken wings, and expect to see the Bruins back in the Final next year for the first time since 2019? Not a chance. The next Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl or Matthew Tkachuk is not about to come crashing through Causeway's Zamboni doors.
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What we have here in Sturm, or what we think we have, is the ability to communicate, an energetic and enthusiastic coach who we know can think the game, and should be able to get the message across to the working help. It's a start, a first step in a long trek back.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at
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San Francisco Chronicle
20 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
NASCAR's Mexico City race: Daniel Suarez balances racing at home with uncertainty over contract
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Daniel Suarez has become the unofficial tour guide for all things Mexico City as NASCAR prepares to race internationally this Sunday for the first international points-paying Cup Series event of the modern era. From where to eat, what to do, how to navigate the city and even basic conversation in Spanish, Suarez has been the go-to guy in the garage since NASCAR said it would take the Cup Series outside the United States for just the third time in 77 years. The Monterrey native has made multiple trips to NASCAR as the face of Sunday's race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he's raced on a different course layout 13 times, with three wins in NASCAR's Mexico Series. He'd like to win at the Cup level — if he pulls it out in his home country Sunday it will be his first victory of this season — but Suarez is juggling a very difficult balancing act. He's elated to be racing in front of a home crowd, honored to show of the culture and magic of Mexico City, but at the same time tremendously concerned about his NASCAR future. Suarez is in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing, which has Ross Chastain and Shane van Ginsberg under contract while Connor Zilisch is its development driver and on loan to several teams at lower national levels of NASCAR racing. Trackhouse only has three Cup Series seats, math Suarez can't ignore as he heads into Sunday ranked 28th in the standings. 'It's not the first time that I've been in this position. Definitely the first time with the Mexico race, but it's not the first time that I've been in the position that we have to win or in the position that we have a contract negotiation in the middle of the season,' Suarez said. 'It's definitely a distraction. I won't sit here and tell you that it doesn't really matter. I'm trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and just do my thing on the track.' Suarez, the only Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race, has two Cup victories, three Xfinity Series wins and one Truck Series win. His 2016 championship in the second-tier Xfinity Series made him the only foreign-born driver to win a national series title. Suarez has faced adversity before, but never like the pressure he's feeling hoping to deliver in front of the local crowd. This weekend in Mexico is special to Suarez, who expects well over 100 of the spectators in attendance Sunday to be friends and family. They've watched from afar as he's worked his way into the NASCAR spotlight, a journey full of ups and downs that have seen Suarez drive for four different Cup teams. He joined Trackhouse Racing in 2021 and last year signed a one-year extension through 2025. At the time, he said he wanted to reassess where the program was before signing a long-term deal. But it's been a disappointing start to the season and his average finish of 21st is three spots worse than last year. 'The Mexico race is something that I've been hoping and waiting on for many, many years, and I'm not going to let anything else from outside take that week and that moment from myself,' Suarez said. 'We have to just continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to move forward. I think that in Trackhouse, we have found some decent speed in the last few weeks, so that's promising, and hopefully we can continue to move in that direction.' 'For many years, I never had a sponsor deal with a company from Mexico because I wasn't racing there,' Suarez said. 'So right now that we're going to be having an event down there, it opens a whole new world of opportunities and that's great, obviously for me, but for the entire sport.' Contract Distractions It's another layer of pressure for Suarez, who wants nothing more than to balance the demands of being the star of Sunday's show with delivering a strong showing. "Once we get into the race, we don't want to deal with any of this stuff, and I just want to focus and have fun driving race cars,' he said. 'There is going to be more on my plate just by nature, just being the local guy, the very first race ever in Mexico City in the Cup Series. I have to accept that. With that being said, I have to protect my space for the competition stuff because if we don't do the competition stuff right, everything else doesn't really matter. So we have to put a balance on everything.' As Suarez noted, a win on Sunday would dramatically improve his hopes of remaining with Trackhouse on a contract extension. It could happen: Suarez's first Cup victory came on the road course at Sonoma, and the next five Cup races include road-course races at Mexico City, Sonoma and the Chicago street course. He admitted 'honestly, I don't know' about what he'd like out of a contract extension, but said he speaks regularly with team owner Justin Marks. 'The trajectory of Trackhouse has been tremendous,' Suárez said. 'We have learned so many things. I really want to help Justin bring Trackhouse to the next level. I believe that 2022 has been our best year as a company, still. So why is that? Are we missing something? Do we have to change something? What do we need to do better? As a new team, to have your best years that early, it's kind of uncommon. One of the reasons, I believe, was because of the new car. So I believe that we have to continue to grow. 'Ross just won a race a couple weeks ago, and that's brought a lot of energy to the team and some more momentum. Before that, it was a little bit of a struggle. So we have to continue to find that speed in a consistent basis, just like the big teams," he continued. "So we're having all these conversations. I wish I didn't have to have these conversations, and I didn't have these distractions, but it's part of life, right? Sometimes you have to do several things at the same time. But I'm trying not to think about it too much and trying to work in my job and push as hard as possible for competition and trying to help the team slowly get better and better.'
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
NASCAR's Mexico City race: Daniel Suarez balances racing at home with uncertainty over contract
Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Daniel Suarez has become the unofficial tour guide for all things Mexico City as NASCAR prepares to race internationally this Sunday for the first international points-paying Cup Series event of the modern era. From where to eat, what to do, how to navigate the city and even basic conversation in Spanish, Suarez has been the go-to guy in the garage since NASCAR said it would take the Cup Series outside the United States for just the third time in 77 years. The Monterrey native has made multiple trips to NASCAR as the face of Sunday's race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he's raced on a different course layout 13 times, with three wins in NASCAR's Mexico Series. He'd like to win at the Cup level — if he pulls it out in his home country Sunday it will be his first victory of this season — but Suarez is juggling a very difficult balancing act. He's elated to be racing in front of a home crowd, honored to show of the culture and magic of Mexico City, but at the same time tremendously concerned about his NASCAR future. Suarez is in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing, which has Ross Chastain and Shane van Ginsberg under contract while Connor Zilisch is its development driver and on loan to several teams at lower national levels of NASCAR racing. Trackhouse only has three Cup Series seats, math Suarez can't ignore as he heads into Sunday ranked 28th in the standings. 'It's not the first time that I've been in this position. Definitely the first time with the Mexico race, but it's not the first time that I've been in the position that we have to win or in the position that we have a contract negotiation in the middle of the season,' Suarez said. 'It's definitely a distraction. I won't sit here and tell you that it doesn't really matter. I'm trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and just do my thing on the track.' Return to Mexico Suarez, the only Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race, has two Cup victories, three Xfinity Series wins and one Truck Series win. His 2016 championship in the second-tier Xfinity Series made him the only foreign-born driver to win a national series title. Suarez has faced adversity before, but never like the pressure he's feeling hoping to deliver in front of the local crowd. This weekend in Mexico is special to Suarez, who expects well over 100 of the spectators in attendance Sunday to be friends and family. They've watched from afar as he's worked his way into the NASCAR spotlight, a journey full of ups and downs that have seen Suarez drive for four different Cup teams. He joined Trackhouse Racing in 2021 and last year signed a one-year extension through 2025. At the time, he said he wanted to reassess where the program was before signing a long-term deal. But it's been a disappointing start to the season and his average finish of 21st is three spots worse than last year. 'The Mexico race is something that I've been hoping and waiting on for many, many years, and I'm not going to let anything else from outside take that week and that moment from myself,' Suarez said. 'We have to just continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to move forward. I think that in Trackhouse, we have found some decent speed in the last few weeks, so that's promising, and hopefully we can continue to move in that direction.' Suarez will have Mexican communication company Telcel on his car this weekend. 'For many years, I never had a sponsor deal with a company from Mexico because I wasn't racing there,' Suarez said. 'So right now that we're going to be having an event down there, it opens a whole new world of opportunities and that's great, obviously for me, but for the entire sport.' Contract Distractions It's another layer of pressure for Suarez, who wants nothing more than to balance the demands of being the star of Sunday's show with delivering a strong showing. "Once we get into the race, we don't want to deal with any of this stuff, and I just want to focus and have fun driving race cars,' he said. 'There is going to be more on my plate just by nature, just being the local guy, the very first race ever in Mexico City in the Cup Series. I have to accept that. With that being said, I have to protect my space for the competition stuff because if we don't do the competition stuff right, everything else doesn't really matter. So we have to put a balance on everything.' As Suarez noted, a win on Sunday would dramatically improve his hopes of remaining with Trackhouse on a contract extension. It could happen: Suarez's first Cup victory came on the road course at Sonoma, and the next five Cup races include road-course races at Mexico City, Sonoma and the Chicago street course. He admitted 'honestly, I don't know' about what he'd like out of a contract extension, but said he speaks regularly with team owner Justin Marks. 'The trajectory of Trackhouse has been tremendous,' Suárez said. 'We have learned so many things. I really want to help Justin bring Trackhouse to the next level. I believe that 2022 has been our best year as a company, still. So why is that? Are we missing something? Do we have to change something? What do we need to do better? As a new team, to have your best years that early, it's kind of uncommon. One of the reasons, I believe, was because of the new car. So I believe that we have to continue to grow. 'Ross just won a race a couple weeks ago, and that's brought a lot of energy to the team and some more momentum. Before that, it was a little bit of a struggle. So we have to continue to find that speed in a consistent basis, just like the big teams," he continued. "So we're having all these conversations. I wish I didn't have to have these conversations, and I didn't have these distractions, but it's part of life, right? Sometimes you have to do several things at the same time. But I'm trying not to think about it too much and trying to work in my job and push as hard as possible for competition and trying to help the team slowly get better and better.' ___ AP auto racing: recommended
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch among drivers with winning memories in Mexico City
Only three Cup drivers have experience racing stock cars on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski competed in Xfinity races there when the series went from 2005 through 2008. Hamlin won the race in 2006 and Busch in the last NASCAR race at the track in 2008. But there are two other drivers who have celebrated wins at the facility. Daniel Suarez won three races there but on a 1-mile oval configuration used in the NASCAR Mexico Series in 2012-14. And Michael McDowell won a sports-car race there in 2005. Do those wins matter? "I recognize a few of the corners as I'm running it [in the simulator]," Hamlin said. "I'm like, 'Yeah I remember this, remember that.' "Certainly there are some different parts of the track that we didn't get to run. But overall, it feels pretty straightforward to me. Not much to it. I think there's a bunch of passing zones. I'm actually looking forward to this one." The 2006 win was Hamlin's first in a NASCAR national series race, so maybe Hamlin looks forward to it thanks to those great memories. When Hamlin and Busch raced, they competed on a configuration that was a 2.67-mile, eight-turn course. Now they will race a 15-turn, 2.42-mile course, a slightly shorter version than what is used when Formula 1 competes at the track. It was the return of F1 that resulted in a reconfiguration in 2015. "It was really cool and unique to just kind of see the fan nature and how different it can be or what it is and the energy that they bring to the track," Busch said. "It's a lot of fun to check that out. … For me to win the final race that we had there back in 2009, it was special." Suarez didn't even win at the facility making right-hand turns, so he takes those wins for what they're worth. With the additional turns, Suarez said he doesn't feel it is the same track that the few drivers who did compete in Xfinity would be used to at all. "It only makes you feel good," Suarez said. "I won there a couple times in an oval configuration. So is that is going to help me? Denny, Kyle, McDowell, they won on a race track that was completely different." Suarez believes the drivers will have to work to run well. "It's going to be a challenge," Suarez said. "Honestly, I don't think that there is a driver out there that has an advantage knowing the race track because it's going to be something completely new for everyone. "It's going to be one of those weekends that there are new things to adapt to and whoever does the best job adapting and improving the quickest is going to be on top." One of the new things they will adapt to is the part of the course that runs through the former baseball stadium that functioned as such 20 years ago but that is still used for events like concerts. "I've seen the F1 races there, so I have a good understanding [of the track]," Busch said. "I've raced there before, so not every corner is different, but the stadium section I know is a lot different. "It'll be interesting to see how all that plays out with our cars." The driver who might be able to correlate their experience the most will be McDowell, as the current Next Gen car is modeled after a sports car when it comes to suspension. "It does help I'm familiar with the track, familiar with the city, familiar with getting acclimated to the [higher] altitude and what that looks like," McDowell said. "So I think there are some advantages to having experience here. "I don't know how much it actually helps 20 years later, but I feel really good about going to a road course in general."' McDowell believes he can adapt to the new facility quicker than others. "Any time you go to a new road course where nobody has any experience or seat time, I feel like that's an advantage for us," McDowell said. "We've been working on it for a few weeks and feel like we're prepared as you can be." The key as far as adapting to the track will come with the extended weekend schedule. Instead of 20 minutes of practice with limited time to change parts and pieces before qualifying, Cup teams will get 75 minutes of practice Friday (a 50-minute session, an hour break and then a 25-minute session). They will then get a couple of hours to work on their cars before having to go through tech for qualifying Saturday, with the cars then impounded for Sunday's race. "It's nice that we have a practice where you can adjust and change on [things] unlike a typical weekend," McDowell said. "So we'll have a few packages we can run through and try to make some overall gains on our road-course package. I'm looking forward to it." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
