While general manager Don Sweeney has made few good decisions in his first season in his current role, keeping Julien is one of them.
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“I don’t believe we need a major overhaul”, Sweeney said.
“Absolutely”, Sweeney responded. “I emphatically believe that Claude’s the coach that can take us through what I’ll describe has been a bumpy transition period this year, and we’ve got work to do”.
Julien became the Bruins all-time wins leader this season and was honored by the team for that accomplishment in March. “We have work to do”. Just weeks later, he was on thin ice, wondering if he’d return to coach for the franchise he led to the Stanley Cup championship in 2011 and a return trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013. In a pattern similar to last season, the B’s were in position to qualify until the final day of the season, but fell short.
“I want to be here”. I love this city and I love these fans. “Everything that came out of if after my evaluation with Don [Sweeney] on Sunday morning was that I wanted to be here, I want to bring this team back to where we once had it and I know that there’s some bumps along the way”.
“You want to be somewhere where people are really passionate about the game”.
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This marks the first time in the Jacob’s era in Boston that a coach will remain with the Bruins with the team after missing the playoffs in two consecutive seasons. He’s not. The coach and players alike should be held accountable for the fact that the team was outscored by a combined 20-4 in the NHL Winter Classic, Milan Lucic’s return to Boston and the season finale against the Senators, exemplifying a failure to perform when the spotlight was brightest.
