Boston Bruins, Coach Claude Julien Will Not Be Parting Ways
After months of speculation and debate regarding Claude Julien‘s future as head coach of the Boston Bruins, GM Don Sweeney confirmed he and the club will not be parting ways ahead of the upcoming 2015 season. Julien came under heavy fire when the Bruins failed to qualify for the playoffs after lifelessly limping through the season’s final games.
Sweeney made the announcement confirming Julien’s return at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, New York on Friday.
Despite such a debacle, the Boston Globe first reported earlier this week that Julien would be returning to the Bruins next season. The report also noted that Julien’s full coaching stuff will be accompanying him behind the bench.
Julien’s future was called into question when the team decided to relieve Peter Chiarelli of his general manager duties earlier this offseason. Don Sweeney was appointed as the new GM and immediately backed Julien, but not with the up-most certainty during his introductory press conference back in May.
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“I also acknowledged to Claude during this whole process that I think tremendously of him as a coach and as a person, so I think it’s just about lining up philosophical approaches that I believe in, that he believes in, and that we can move the group forward. As I said, some of that will involve personnel decisions. Some of that will involve staff member decisions and or changes. That’s to be determined. He’s the coach of the Boston Bruins as of today; that’s for sure,” Sweeney said when asked about Julien.
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The Bruins have had tremendous success with Julien at the helm. Since the 55-year-old was hired in 2007, the Bruins missed the playoffs just once. He coached the Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship in 2011 over the Vancouver Canucks. They were again able to make it back to the finals in 2013, only to lose to the Chicago Blackhawks. Julien has earned 351 victories in his eight seasons.
With the Bruins making the decision to retain their current coaching staff, Sweeney must truly believe Julien is fully capable of instilling a new style that’s more conducive to the management’s philosophy and the development of offensive talent.