BOSTON — The Bruins’ emphatic win over the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night represented a huge step forward, dispelling the notion that Claude Julien’s squad is incapable of beating top Western Conference competition on home ice.
But as important it was for the team as a whole, the 4-2 victory at TD Garden carried even greater significance for Julien himself. The win was the 387th of the head coach’s Bruins tenure, bringing him into a tie with Hall of Famer Art Ross for the most in franchise history.
When asked about the milestone after the game, the NHL’s longest-tenured coach kept coming back to the same word: humbling.
“It really is humbling because this guy here (Ross), he’s an icon,” Julien said. “He’s a legend. I don’t have a trophy named after me. (laughs) Those are all things that there’s a big difference between Art Ross and myself, and the fact that I’ve avoided being fired for the last nine years helps get that many wins here. So, just feel fortunate and most of all obviously humbled by that achievement.”
Goalie Tuukka Rask wasn’t aware of his coach’s achievement, but it didn’t surprise him in the slightest.
“He did? That’s great,” said Rask, who stopped 25 shots in the win. “Congrats to him. He’s reached a few milestones there in the last year or two. It goes to say that he’s a great coach, and when we execute his game plan, we’re going to get wins. And he’s had quite a few of them.”
Even more impressive than Julien’s wins total behind the Bruins bench? The number of games it took him to get there. While Ross needed 772 contests to reach 387 wins, Julien did so in 687.
“It’s definitely a great honor, I’m sure, for him,” said center Patrice Bergeron, who began his Bruins career three seasons before Julien started his. “He’s one of those guys that always puts the team first, but it’s well-deserved. He’s an amazing coach. I’ve been very fortunate to be under him for a lot of years and learning, and he’s been very successful — they’ve always been — so, well-deserved.”
Including previous head-coaching stints with the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils, Julien has 506 career victories, good for 21st all-time and 10th among active coaches.
Bergeron also reached a couple of milestones of his own with a one-goal, one-assist performance against the Blackhawks. He claimed sole possession of 10th place on the Bruins’ all-time goals list and moved into a tie with Terry O’Reilly for eighth on the team’s all-time points list.
Thumbnail photo via Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Images
