The Boston Bruins may have suffered a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, but their 20-15-0 record is still good for third place in the Atlantic Division, which is more than anyone could have hoped for entering the season. A big reason for the team’s success has been the work of first-year head coach Marco Sturm.
After firing Jim Montgomery early in the 2024-25 campaign and moving on from interim head coach Joe Sacco, the B’s turned to Sturm, a former player of theirs, to come in and help get the team back on track. Expectations weren’t exactly sky-high this season, but Sturm has managed to get the most out of his team on a nightly basis.
Sturm spent four-and-a-half seasons with Boston during his playing days, so he knows what it takes to succeed in this sports-crazed environment. Throughout the season, Sturm revealed he’s been preaching to his players just how special an opportunity it is to rep the spoked B.
“That’s the beauty about Boston,” Sturm said in an interview with Andy Brickley and Sophia Jurksztowicz of NESN. “They let you know when things are not going well, I know that, I’ve been through it. But when you show effort, when you show hard work, people appreciate that.”
There’s obviously more that goes into Sturm’s coaching regimen than this, but having an appreciation for the team you play for is a key part of establishing culture. Sturm has done that, and it’s been tough to argue with the results so far.
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Boston still isn’t perfect, as evidenced by its loss to Edmonton, but it will have an opportunity to get back in the win column on Saturday night when it takes on the Vancouver Canucks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Brad Penner/Imagn Images
