List of Boston Bruins head coaches

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The Boston Bruins, a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, has had 29 head coaches in its team history. [1] The franchise is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The franchise was founded in 1924 and entered the NHL as the first American-based expansion team, playing its initial seasons at the still-active Boston Arena. [2] [3] It is an Original Six team, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. [1] Its home arena is the 17,565-person capacity TD Garden, where it has played since 1995, after leaving the Boston Garden. [1]

Contents

Art Ross served three terms as the Bruins head coach. [4] Ross, Lynn Patrick, and Milt Schmidt have all been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Harry Sinden, Gerry Cheevers, Tom Johnson and Frank Patrick are Hockey Hall of Fame inductees, and spent their entire coaching careers with the Bruins. Cooney Weiland, Dit Clapper, Terry O'Reilly, Steve Kasper and Mike O'Connell also coached only for the Bruins, [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] with Mike Sullivan taking over as head coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 12, 2015. [10]

Statistically, Tom Johnson was the most successful head coach, with a winning percentage of .738. [11] He is followed by Harry Sinden, who, averaging his two terms, had a winning percentage of .689. [12] The worst head coach statistically was Phil Watson, who, with a winning percentage of .268, only won 16 out of the 84 games he coached. [13] Claude Julien took over after Dave Lewis was dismissed in 2007. [14] [15] Bruce Cassidy succeeded Julien on February 7, 2017, and served as head coach until his firing on June 6, 2022. [16] On June 30, 2022, the Bruins named Jim Montgomery head coach, replacing Cassidy. [17] Following an 8–9–3 start to the 2024–25 season, Montgomery was fired, and replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Joe Sacco. [18]

Key

#Number of coaches [A]
GCGames coached
WWins
LLosses
T/OTTies or overtime losses
Win% Winning percentage
*Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame
†Spent entire professional head coaching career with the Bruins.
*†Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and spent entire professional head coaching career with the Bruins.

Coaches

Frank Patrick led his team into the playoffs in every season of his Bruins coaching career. Frank Patrick.jpg
Frank Patrick led his team into the playoffs in every season of his Bruins coaching career.
Dave Lewis coached the Bruins during the 2006-07 season. DaveLewis2006.JPG
Dave Lewis coached the Bruins during the 2006–07 season.

Note: Statistics are correct through the hiring of Sacco during the 2024–25 season.

#NameTermRegular seasonPlayoffsChampionships/awards won [B] Ref.
GCWLT/OTWin%GCWLT
1 Art Ross * 1924–1934 43021416155.4973114125 Stanley Cup championship (1929) [4]
2 Frank Patrick *† 1934–1936 96483612.5636240 [19]
— Art Ross * 1936–1939 144893916.67418990Stanley Cup championship (1939) [4]
3 Cooney Weiland † 1939–1941 96582018.698171070Stanley Cup championship (1941) [20]
— Art Ross * 1941–1945 198849024.485219120 [4]
4 Dit Clapper † 1945–1949 2301028840.530258170 [21]
5 Georges Boucher 1949–1950 70223216.429———— [22]
6 Lynn Patrick * 1950–1954 31011713063.4794016231 [23]
7 Milt Schmidt * 1954–1961 46017220375.4553415190 [24]
8 Phil Watson 1961–1962 84165513.268———— [13]
— Milt Schmidt * 1962–1966 2667315746.361———— [24]
9 Harry Sinden *† 1966–1970 29613610555.5522818100Stanley Cup championship (1970) [12]
10 Tom Johnson *† 1970–1973 2081424323.738221570Stanley Cup championship (1972) [11]
11 Bep Guidolin 1973–1974 10472239.7362111100 [25]
12 Don Cherry 1974–1979 40023110564.6585531240 Jack Adams Award winner (1976) [26]
13 Fred Creighton 1979–1980 73402013.637———— [27]
— Harry Sinden *† 1980 7610.85710460 [12]
14 Gerry Cheevers *† 1980–1985 37620412646.6043415190 [28]
— Harry Sinden *† 1985 2411103.5215230 [12]
15 Butch Goring 1985–1986 93423813.5223030 [29]
16 Terry O'Reilly † 1986–1989 2271158626.5643717191 [30]
17 Mike Milbury 1989–1991 160904921.6284023170 [31]
18 Rick Bowness 1991–1992 80363212.52515870 [32]
19 Brian Sutter 1992–1995 2161207323.609227150 [33]
20 Steve Kasper † 1995–1997 164667820.4635140 [34]
21 Pat Burns * 1997–2000 25410510346.504188100Jack Adams Award winner (1998) [35]
22 Mike Keenan 2000–2001 7433347.547———— [36]
23 Robbie Ftorek 2001–2003 155766514.5776240 [37]
24 Mike O'Connell † 2003 9333.5005140 [38]
25 Mike Sullivan 2003–2006 164707915.5437340 [9]
26 Dave Lewis 2006–2007 8235416.463———— [39]
27 Claude Julien 2007–2017 75941924694.614975740—Stanley Cup championship (2011)
Jack Adams Award winner (2009)		 [15]
28 Bruce Cassidy 2017–2022 39924510846.6727336370Jack Adams Award winner (2020) [40]
29 Jim Montgomery 2022–2024 1841204123.652199100Jack Adams Award winner (2023) [41]
30 Joe Sacco 2024–present————————— [42]

Notes

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References

General

Specific

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  15. 1 2 "Claude Julien". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
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  24. 1 2 "Milt Schmidt". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
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  35. ↑ "Pat Burns". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on September 4, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
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  38. ↑ "Mike O'Connell". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
  39. ↑ "Dave Lewis". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
  40. ↑ "Bruce Cassidy". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Jim Montgomery". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  42. ↑ "Joe Sacco". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.

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