The Boston Bruins fired coach Jim Montgomery after 20 games

The Boston Bruins have fired coach Jim Montgomery after stumbling to a losing record in their first 20 games, the team announced Tuesday.

Associate coach Joe Sacco was elevated to interim head coach. The Bruins are off to an 8-9-3 start (.475 hitting percentage) and out of a playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

General manager Don Sweeney called the move “a difficult decision.”

“Jim Montgomery is a very good NHL coach and an even better person. He has been a positive influence throughout the Bruins organization and I am both grateful and appreciative of the opportunity to work with him and learn from him,” said Sweeney in a statement.

Sacco previously coached the Colorado Avalanche from 2009 to 2013 and has been part of Boston’s coaching staff since 2014. The 55-year-old had a 13-year NHL playing career with five teams from 1990 to 2003.

“Our team’s inconsistency and performance in the first 20 games of the 2024-25 season has been about and under how the Bruins want to reward our fans. I believe Joe Sacco has the coaching experience to bring the players and the team back to focus on the consistent effort the NHL requires to be successful,” Sweeney said. “We will continue to work to make the necessary adjustments to meet the standard and performance our supporting fans expect.”

Montgomery, 55, had a 120-41-23 record (.715 hitting percentage) in three seasons with the Bruins, making the playoffs twice. Both trips to the postseason ended at the hands of the Florida Panthers. Boston was shocked in a seven-game, first-round upset in 2023 after having the most successful regular season in NHL history (135 points), and again earlier this year lost to Florida in the second round after eliminating the Maple Leafs in seven games.

Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award as the 2022–23 NHL Coach of the Year. He previously coached the Dallas Stars for two seasons (2018-20) and compiled a record of 60-43-10.

As Montgomery recounted in his 2023 NHL Awards speech, his success in Boston came after he turned his personal life around. “Three and a half years ago, the Dallas Stars terminated my contract because of my problems with alcohol,” he said. “And I had to change my actions and behavior.”

Despite Sweeney saying the sides talked about an extension during training camp, Montgomery did not have a contract beyond the 2024-25 season.

The Bruins have been one of the NHL’s most notable disappointments this season. They are 31st in team offense (2.40 goals per game) and 28th in defense (3.45 goals against per game).

Previously reliable aspects of the team have not worked, especially the goalkeeping. The team traded former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo. The Ullmark deal broke up the top goaltending tandem in the NHL with 26-year-old Jeremy Swayman, who missed training camp in a bitter negotiation before signing an eight-year contract that will pay him $66 million.

Swayman has a 5-7-2 record with a .884 save percentage and a 3.47 goals-against average. After the Bruins lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Monday, Montgomery said missing training camp was not beneficial.

“I don’t think missing training camp helps anybody,” Montgomery said. “That’s why you have training camps.”

Montgomery has been seen having animated discussions with captain Brad Marchand on the Boston bench several times this season. He also benched leading scorer David Pastrnak in a game earlier this month.

Montgomery’s firing is the first coaching change of the 2024-25 season. Sacco is the fourth head coach under Sweeney since taking over as general manager in 2015.

“I support Don’s decision to address our current play and performance,” team president Cam Neely said in a statement. “Joe Sacco has a wealth of experience and knowledge of our roster and can help lead our team in the right direction. He has a strong understanding of our standards and expectations and I trust him to do everything he can to achieve our organization’s goals this season.”