BRIGHTON, Mass. — Don Sweeney did not want to fire Jim Montgomery. The Boston Bruins general manager acknowledged on Wednesday that earlier this year, he even offered Montgomery a contract extension.
But after 20 games of underperformance, Sweeney determined he had no choice but to let the team’s third-year coach go.
“It came from a decision of our team really not just performing to the level of expectations we have grown to appreciate as a fan of the sporting community here,” Sweeney said on Wednesday. “For me, I just had to change course.”
The Bruins have underachieved in just about every component: goaltending, five-on-five offense, power play, penalty kill, discipline. In Sweeney’s mind, at least 10 players have failed to meet expectations, including Elias Lindholm, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman and Nikita Zadorov.
The thing Sweeney can’t figure out is why.
“It’s team-wide,” Sweeney said. “That’s where it’s confounding to me in looking at every little area of our group. We need to be better, from structure on out. We need to make our players understand that’s not the standard.”
By Sweeney’s reasoning, Pastrnak’s injury at the World Championships and Marchand’s three offseason procedures partly explain why their production is down. As one of the two primary participants in Swayman’s negotiations along with agent Lewis Gross, Sweeney believes missing camp is a factor in the goalie’s shoddy play.
“We fully expect him to get back there,” Sweeney said. “Now how much time that takes because of camp, I don’t know. At the end of the day, reps are reps. Even if you’ve tried to convince yourself that you might be there, it’s no different than Brad missing some quality time and working your way back in games. It’s just hard to do that.”
Sweeney referred to the Bruins’ bad camp several times. He guessed that some players believed things would come easier given prior success. Montgomery did not do enough to correct the attitude.
As for Lindholm and Zadorov, his primary offseason signings, Sweeney is not second-guessing bringing in the free agents. It is simply that Lindholm (nine points) and Zadorov (NHL-high 13 minor penalties) are not providing proper returns on investment.
“I don’t think there’s a concern that they’re not a good fit,” Sweeney said. “They have not played to the level we expected them to.”
By replacing Montgomery with interim coach Joe Sacco, Sweeney’s mandate to the team is to improve the work ethic, play with better structure and hold each other more accountable. The turnaround begins on Thursday against the Utah Hockey Club. Despite being underwater in multiple categories, the Bruins have 19 points, just outside the wild-card window.
“We’re going to find out what this team is capable of based on where we’re at right now with 60 games to go,” said Sweeney. “There’s a lot of season. But you can’t stay in neutral.”
Sweeney hopes Montgomery’s ouster will provide a performance bounce. Otherwise, the GM will send players out the door behind Montgomery.
“Moving forward, that rests with me now,” Sweeney said. “From a personnel standpoint, from the players’ standpoint, they have to understand they’re not where they need to be. We’re either going to get back there. Or there are going to be continued changes across the board.”
(Photo of Don Sweeney: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
