Troiani Rink Report

The Bruins introduced Marco Sturm as their new head coach during a press conference at TD Garden on Tuesday. He was joined by general manager Don Sweeney.

Here’s what the members of team leadership had to say:

On the process of finding the Original Six franchise’s 3oth head coach

Sweeney stated that through the process, he spoke with 14 candidates. He said some of them “were initial” conversations, but ultimately, the Bruins hired the former Boston forward to lead the club into its new era.

“This was a very informative search for me personally,” Sweeney told reporters during the press conference. “And for the organization, it was a pivotal moment for our franchise, and to learn about reshaping our team.

“To go through the process of hiring a coach that was committed to reestablishing and renewing our identity, to hiring a coach that was committed to playing with a structure, to have an understanding of player development, to value communication and culture within our locker room, to understanding that the game has evolved offensively and our players, our personnel, we need to do that.”

Sturm “honored” to take the helm in Boston

Sturm donned the Spoked-B for five seasons after arriving in Boston as part of the Joe Thornton trade in 2005.

“I’m extremely proud and excited to be here, obviously, to get named the 30th head coach of the Boston Bruins,” Sturm said. “I mean, that alone, just to say it, it really gets me excited. … I’m very honored to take this team to the next level.”

The Black and Gold are still looking for one more coach to complete the staff

With Joe Sacco departing Boston to join Mike Sullivan’s staff with the New York Rangers, Sweeney confirmed assistants Jay Leach and Chris Kelly and goaltending coach Bob Essensa would be staying with the Bruins.

“A lot of conversations about staff between Marco and myself. He’s excited that Jay and Chris Kelly, Bob Essensa, are all returning to be part of that,” Sweeney said. “We are in a search for another assistant coach that can complement and fill in the gaps that we may currently have.

“We’re aggressively looking for somebody to help in an area that we may currently have. So, we’re aggressively looking for somebody to help in an area that we feel we need to complement Marco and the current staff.”

On the Bruins’ culture and current state of the team

Sturm said he told Sweeney and Bruins president Cam Neely that while he knows the roster will change, he thinks Boston is in a good position.

“I think that process already started last season at the trading deadline,” Sturm said. “There will be some changes, but what I like is, and I told Don and Cam that I still love our team, even without any additions, because I think we have good goaltending. I think when everyone stays healthy, we have a really good D-Corp.

“We hopefully want to add a few pieces up front, but overall, I do like our core. But having said that, I think depth-wise, we just probably need a little bit more. I think in our DNA, in the Bruins’ DNA, playing good defensively, it’s not going to change, but we have to find a way to be more productive offensively.”

Sturm doubled down on the culture the Bruins built 20 years ago under the leadership of Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron.

“I always call it the heartbeat of the locker room,” he said. “I’ve been through it because I was part of it, and having guys like Bergy and Zee and myself, and we added pieces after that that changed everything and for me, it started right at practice.”

The new bench boss said he had already talked with the veteran players, and he could tell right away that they had learned the Bruins’ culture from Bergeron and Chara.

“They already have it here,” Sturm said. “And that really got me excited, too. I know we just have to guide them again, and we have to reestablish the whole thing because these guys are not here anymore. Now, it’s going to be up to us and the new group to lead this group to a new era.”

Current players were not involved in coaching search

Sweeney said he talked about coaching characteristics with the players at the end of the season. Still, after the initial conversations, he did not consult with anyone outside of the front office throughout the process.

“During the process, I did not run a particular name or style by our players,” Sweeney said. “I think our players innately want to be coached. They want to have an understanding of how they’re going to be coached, and they value the same things we organizationally value: communication, respect and culture.

“It resonated in terms of how Marco was going to treat players, how he was going to communicate with players, being very direct but supportive at all levels of where the players are in their development, and therefore, I felt very comfortable.

Sweeney continued: “I wasn’t looking for validation from our players in any way, shape, or form from deciding who the coach was going to be. I want them to understand that Marco’s in charge, and we think we’ve picked a really good coach, and they’re going to go to work.”

This article was initially published on Substack on June 10, 2025.