Boston Bruins head coach and University of Maine Hall of Famer Jim Montgomery knows his team had a lot of success this past season. He also knows losing in the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Florida Panthers for the second straight year means he has a lot of work ahead of him.
“You’re never happy or satisfied when your team isn’t the last one standing,” Montgomery said. “But the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. It was a big turnover year but we had a lot of success because people drove the bus in different capacities [than they had previously].”
The Bruins tied for sixth in the NHL in points this season with 109 and won their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Toronto 4-3 before being ousted in six games by Florida in the semifinals.
Montgomery expects more roster changes for the Bruins this offseason because the front office is proactive and wants the team to get better.
“I have nothing to do with player procurement but (Bruins general manager) Don Sweeney has delivered a real good roster his entire career,” said Montgomery. “I have a lot of trust in him and his staff.”
The Bruins currently have eight unrestricted free agents they have to decide on, including playoff scoring leader Jake DeBrusk (5 goals, 6 assists in 13 games).
“There is incredible turnover in professional sports. It’s something we deal with all the time. Everyone wants to get paid, everyone wants to be valued and everyone wants to win and those three things collide sometimes,” Montgomery said.
Former UMaine All-American goalie Jeremy Swayman, who has the best goals-against average (2.15) and save percentage (.933) among playoff goalies who have appeared in at least seven games, is a restricted free agent.
Sweeney has said that signing the 25-year-old Swayman to a multi-year contract is a priority.
“He had a great year. He was on the (NHL) all-star team for a reason and the playoffs were his coming-out party,” Montgomery said.
Two years ago, in his first season at the helm, Montgomery guided the Bruins to an NHL record-setting 135 points and 65 regular season wins before being upset by Florida in seven games in their quarterfinal round series.
They won the President’s Trophy awarded to the team with the most regular season points.
Heading into this season, the Bruins had lost eight of their top 18 regular season scorers off their 2022-23 team, including captain Patrice Bergeron. Three of their top four playoff point-getters departed.
But they still managed to contend for the President’s Trophy, finishing five points below the New York Rangers.
“For me and the coaching staff, there was a lot more teaching because we had a bunch of new players and a lot of younger players. It was fun to watch the growth within the group. We played our best game of the Toronto series in game seven and that experience will help propel us next year,” said UMaine’s all-time leading scorer (301 points) and former captain of the 1992-93 NCAA championship team.
He said they ran into an elite team in Florida.
“There are no glaring holes in their team. They’re mean and they play a real good brand of hockey. I think they’re going to win (the Stanley Cup vs. Edmonton),” said Montgomery, who will turn 55 on June 30.
Montgomery took responsibility for his team’s shortcomings. The Bruins set an NHL record for too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties with seven.
“Five of them happened when the puck was at our bench when we were changing,” said Montgomery. “Mistakes were made. Four of them could have been avoided. I didn’t do a good enough job (managing it).”
Montgomery said he is already excited about next year thanks to the growth of key players.
“Our captains know how to lead, especially (Brad) Marchand. It’s his team and he is going to continue to make it better because that’s the way he’s wired. And the assistant captains and leadership corps underneath them all know their importance to the team’s success,” he said.
Montgomery feels the “culture and standard of excellence” within the Bruins organization will enable the Bruins to continue to be contenders because “we put players in situations where they feel comfortable and it enables them to believe they can do really good things.”
He said that is a credit to upper management and makes his role clear.
“My biggest job as the coach is to understand what players’ strengths are and put them in situations where it allows their strengths to shine,” he said.
Montgomery kept tabs on the University of Maine’s hockey team and was pleased to see the team return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
“I was very proud of the season they had. I watched them live at (Boston University) and I loved how they played. I loved their style of play and their blue-collar work ethic. You combine that with their skill and aggressive play and it was really fun to watch,” he said.
The Montreal native, wife Emily and their four children are very happy in New England, he said.
“The city is fantastic. I forgot how much I love New England and my family loves it, too,” said Montgomery. “It has been a lot of fun professionally, personally and socially.”
