Before winning twice this week, the Boston Bruins were struggling to consistently pick up victories throughout the month (5-6-2 in January), and it fueled speculation that head coach Claude Julien could be on the hot seat.
B’s forward Brad Marchand isn’t buying the speculation, though, and he gave a strong defense of his coach after Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden.
“The speculation is driven by the media,” Marchand said. “They don’t have the sources that they may claim. That’s not going to happen if we do our jobs. Claude isn’t the issue — if you fire the coach, what do you do? It’s not going to change anything, Claude’s one of the best coaches in the game.
“That’s not the answer for this group. Again, it’s driven by the media. We’re not concerned about that in the room, we don’t think it’s going to happen. We’re not thinking about that for a second. You can put that to bed and let it go now.”
Julien, the longest tenured coach in the NHL with 10 seasons in Boston, arguably is the best bench boss in Bruins history. His 417 wins are the most in team history, and he was a key component to the Bruins’ Stanley Cup-winning campaign in 2010-11 — the franchise’s only championship since 1972.
Finding a great coach isn’t easy, and there aren’t many around the league. The Bruins are fortunate to have one in Julien, who does a very good job integrating young players into a team with a lot of veterans. That process only will continue over the next few seasons as several first-round picks from recent drafts make their way to Boston.
Thumbnail photo via Bruce Fedyck/USA TODAY Sports Images
