Marco Sturm hired as Bruins coach: Why the ex-left wing is back behind the bench
The Boston Bruins have hired Marco Sturm as their head coach, the team announced Thursday. Sturm replaces Joe Sacco, who had been serving on an interim basis since Jim Montgomery was dismissed in November.
Sturm, 46, was previously head coach of the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings' AHL affiliate. He also spent four seasons as a Kings assistant.
Advertisement
Sturm is best known in Boston for being Patrice Bergeron's former left wing. He appeared in 302 games for the Bruins after arriving from the San Jose Sharks in the Joe Thornton trade. Sturm made his mark as a speedy left wing with a knack for scoring timely goals. His knee injury in the 2010 playoffs opened the door for Brad Marchand to make the team the following season.
Sturm's intention is to build more of a resume behind the Bruins bench than he did for the franchise on the ice. While he does not have NHL head-coaching experience, Sturm won the job by maximizing his strengths during interviews with general manager Don Sweeney: explaining his details-focused approach and engaging with his upbeat personality.
The Kings have a history of being a defense-first franchise that features stingy goaltending and structured play in their zone. This aligns with how Sweeney sees the path toward a turnaround. Sturm delivers his message more in the upbeat style of Montgomery than the straightforward Sacco. Mason Lohrei (24), Matt Poitras (21) and Fraser Minten (20) are among the young players who could benefit from Sturm's positivity.
Sturm has international coaching and managing experience. The native of Dingolfing, Germany, was his country's coach for three seasons in the World Championship. He was GM of Germany's World Juniors rosters for three seasons, as well.
Sturm will be tasked with helping the Bruins right the course after they finished with the league's fifth-worst record in 2024-25. He will lean on David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, the two alternate captains. Sturm will also be counting on Jeremy Swayman to continue the turnaround he initiated in helping Team USA win gold at the 2025 World Championship.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
JJ Redick saw Tyrese Haliburton's potential three years ago
JJ Redick saw Tyrese Haliburton's potential three years ago Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers has been a rising star for some time now, but over the last several weeks, he has become perhaps as dangerous a player as there is in the NBA. During the regular season, there were quite a few people who thought he was overrated, and he wasn't even named to this year's All-Star team. But he has exploded during the playoffs and hit a number of clutch and game-winning shots, including the dagger he nailed just before time expired in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick may have seen at least some of this coming. In February 2022, when the Sacramento Kings traded Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers along with Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson for Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb, Redick said point-blank that Haliburton was the best player on the Kings. "This is some form of malpractice on the Kings' part," Redick said of the trade. "... Tyrese Haliburton has been the best player on that team. ... He was determined to turn things around and be part of that rebuild in Sacramento. I know he's shocked right now, but they traded away their best player." The Kings took Haliburton with the No. 12 pick in the 2020 draft, and at the time, he was starting in their backcourt alongside De'Aaron Fox. Fox was putting up much better scoring numbers, and to this day, he has continued to average more points than Haliburton, but Haliburton has been the better 3-point shooter, passer and facilitator. Haliburton led the NBA in assists per game last season, and he now has Indiana just three wins away from an NBA championship. Meanwhile, Sacramento made the playoffs in 2023 as the third seed in the Western Conference but has failed to reach the playoffs in both of the last two seasons.
Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Patrice Bergeron and others believe Marco Sturm can do for the Bruins what he did seven years ago for Team Germany
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up It was engineered by Marco Sturm. Advertisement The newest 'He changed the culture,' recalled Christian Künast, one of Sturm's assistant coaches and now the director of the German Ice Hockey Federation. Describing Sturm as 'the best coach I've ever worked with,' Künast raved from his office in Germany. Advertisement 'Obviously we didn't have too many NHL players at that time. It's still new for us, something special when a German player makes it to the NHL,' Künast said. 'He had so much success, scored goals, everyone knew him in the hockey world in Germany. But his biggest influence was when he started as the national team coach.' The coaching carousel spun Sturm in different directions since then, to being an NHL assistant with the Kings and then the head coach of Los Angeles's AHL affiliate for the past three seasons. It was what Sturm accomplished with Team Germany that feels so applicable to what he faces with these Bruins. Just listen to Künast. 'I remember we lost in the quarterfinals in the 2017 World Championships to Canada at home,' he said. 'We lost, 2-1. The feeling in the dressing room was, 'OK, we made the quarters, everything is great. We lost to Canada, no big deal.' Marco changed that. He was bitter and sour about it. He let everyone know about it. 'It's not good enough. We want to have more. We've got to change our attitude.' ' By the Olympics, Sturm's impact was clear, though not right away. Germany opened by getting thrashed, 5-2, by Finland, surrendering three power-play goals. Matt McIlvane was the assistant coach in charge of the penalty kill, an Illinois native who'd been coaching club hockey in Germany and joined the Olympic staff mere days before they departed for South Korea after another coach had to pull out. Now the head coach of the AHL's San Diego Gulls, McIlvane remembered feeling 'like I couldn't find a corner big enough to climb into, I felt so bad.' Advertisement Sturm stayed the course, trusting McIlvane, trusting his players. A win over Norway in the final group stage game soon followed, and then … a run for the ages. The ninth of 12 seeds in the medal round, Germany soared, beating Switzerland, 2-1, and Sweden, 4-3, both in overtime. Then the real shocker — ' Late in the third, Germany clung to a 3-2 lead. 'And we got a power play,' said McIlvane. 'I remember on the bench, talking, should we put two [defensemen] on the ice? We agreed on that … they ended up pulling their goalie, and with 20 seconds left, they scored a goal, tying the game. Then we took a penalty in overtime, they scored against us four on three. Advertisement 'You won a silver medal, but it feels like you lost the gold. It pains me to talk about it even to this day.' But disappointment eventually wanes, dulled as they arrived home to a massive airport welcoming party, embraced by a jubilant nation. The enormity of what they'd accomplished began to sink in. 'I think in that moment we were just pumped about the medal, but after a few years you realize it,' said NHL veteran and Germany team captain Marcel Goc, now a coach with the club Adler Mannheim. 'You need those moments of success for a team or individuals, like [Edmonton star] Leon Draisaitl is having right now, you get more attention, and more attention brings more players, which is what we need.' Goc, who played with Sturm on the Florida Panthers, laughed as he relayed a message for his former teammate, 'Tell him to continue, keep it going for German players.' Related : For now, that comes second to the Bruins, a franchise in the throes of a necessary reset where the roster needs more firepower — 'I was 20 years old when he came from San Jose,' Bergeron said in a telephone call Friday. 'I was trying to learn from the older guys, he was one of them. He was friendly, took me under his wing in a way, helped me along, always extremely respectful. He was a really great teammate, always there for you.' Advertisement Like the rest of the world, Bergeron later watched in awe as Sturm turned the Olympics on its head. 'I was impressed with their run, definitely, the way they came together and went above expectations,' Bergeron said. 'It was great fun for me to see him behind the bench. It was the first time for me to see his demeanor, the way he was acting, because obviously I don't know him as a coach at all, but going from teammate to friend to seeing him behind the bench was exciting.' Next up, Boston. 'There's a picture, the two of us celebrating together on the bench at the Olympics,' McIlvane said, 'I sent it to Marco with a text saying, 'This is the feeling I get when I see you're the head coach of the Bruins.' ' Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Marchand has now scored more Stanley Cup Final goals than any active player
Marchand has now scored more Stanley Cup Final goals than any active player originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston Brad Marchand continues to make a huge impact on the success of the Florida Panthers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Advertisement After scoring a power-play goal in the Panthers' 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night, the veteran left wing scored on a shorthanded breakaway in Game 2 on Saturday night. It was Marchand's ninth career goal in the Stanley Cup Final, moving him ahead of Ondrej Palat, Evgeni Malkin and Corey Perry for the most among active players. The all-time leader in Cup Final goals scored is Montreal Canadiens legend Maurice Richard, who scored 34 times in 58 games. Marchand also scored a shorthanded goal in the Stanley Cup Final on this date (June 6) 14 years ago as a member of the Boston Bruins. Marchand scored the first seven goals of his Cup Final career with the Bruins, including a pair of goals in their Game 7 win over the Vancouver Canucks in 2011. Advertisement The Bruins traded Marchand to the Panthers on March 7. The 37-year-old forward has scored in three different Cup Final series (2011, 2019, 2025).
