Fink: Don’t Blame Montgomery, Blame The System

The Boston Bruins are the first team to fire their head coach this season. They did so just a month in as they axed 2023 Jack Adams Award winner Jim Montgomery with hopes of turning the season around. 

The reactions are immediate and understandable in defense of Montgomery. He’s one of the best coaches in the NHL and the team's struggles can’t be pinned on him as much as the freon office and the poor roster decisions. 

That’s all true. The problem is that Montgomery is just another example of a head coach getting the surprise firing. It comes with the territory.

The Bruins Fired Him Because They Couldn’t Fire Everyone

In the NHL, teams will often fire their head coach and send a message to the locker room. They can replace the coach but not the roster and it’s a reflection of their poor play. Someone has to take the fall and in the Bruins case, it was Montgomery.

This will give the Bruins a spark. The message is sent to the players that they could be next and they better improve. 

The Bruins have the players on their roster who can lead this team back on track. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are veterans who have been around for years. They know how to turn a season around and how to get this team playing at a high level. 

The Bruins will win a few games and leap back into contention in the next few weeks. That won’t mean that Montgomery was a bad coach but that this team needed a spark and this was a needed move.

Coaches Have a Short Shelf Life

There are few great head coaches in the NHL. The four longest-tenured coaches have stood the test of time and continue to get the best out of their rosters and make them Stanley Cup contenders year in and year out. The others eventually wear thin with their teams. 

A lot of good coaches, especially the passionate and fiery ones get the most out of their rosters for a season or two and make them competitive. Then, that same voice wears off. The team needs a change and the coach will go elsewhere to provide the same effect.

The Bruins were a great team under Montgomery but eventually, his control of the team started the dwindle. It was noticeable at the beginning of the season and the Bruins needed to act now before it was too late.

Montgomery Does Deserve Some of the Blame

The Bruins were playing poorly and needed to let Montgomery go. They lost three games in a row and were struggling both on the offensive and defensive ends of the ice. On top of that, they looked like an undisciplined and careless team.

Montgomery lost the locker room and it showed on the ice. The Bruins might not have the best roster in the NHL but he wasn’t getting the least out of it.

Ironically, the Bruins have the pieces to turn the season around. They were an active team in the offseason and added elite play to both the forward unit and the defense. With star power on this roster, a new coach can have this team competing for the Cup.