Boston Bruins Fans Should Be Optimistic About the Marco Sturm Hire

Back on June 10, the Boston Bruins announced that they had hired Marco Sturm as the 30th head coach in the team’s history after implying through a video posted online they would not be keeping Joe Sacco around following the 2024-25 season, not to mention the fact that they would not be removing the interim tag to keep him on as the permanent head coach going into 2025-26.

According to Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub, the Bruins interviewed 14 candidates for the open coaching position before finally landing on Sturm. Initially, the move was met with backlash from fans as it was seen as Boston “settling” for a coach who was “good enough,” especially considering that the German coach had minimal experience with any sort of coaching at the NHL level.

While Sturm’s experience at the NHL level as a player is well-documented, especially the exclamation point that came with winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, but his coaching career, on the other hand, does not speak as loudly as perhaps some other coaches who could have been at Boston’s disposal. Perhaps, however, they were, and they simply declined the position.

Fans Should be More Optimistic About the Sturm Hiring

Now, while Sturm may not be what Bruins’ fans expected in their next coach, especially after hearing that the Dallas Stars fired their head coach, Pete DeBoer; however, fans should actually be much happier that they hired Sturm of all people. The first reason is age.

The past four coaches for Boston (Claude Julien, Bruce Cassidy, Jim Montgomery, and Joe Sacco) were an average age of 56 years old, but Sturm breaks up the average, coming in at 46 years old. In addition to that, Sturm is the one out of the four who has played in the NHL most recently, finishing his career following the 2012-13 season, while Sacco finished his career in the 2002-03 season.

The reason his age plays into this and could benefit his tenure as the Bruins’ head coach is his ability to reach the players. In every other major sport (baseball, football, and now basketball), the league is littered with former players – whether that is for the team they are coaching or in the league as a whole. This has helped coaches to be able to reach the players on levels they weren’t able to before because of their ability to relate to what they are going through, at least in some facets of the game.

Another reason to be optimistic about Sturm is his ability to turn around teams from obscurity. Now, the Bruins are not exactly an obscure team, but the way that they finished this season (and given where they are drafting), puts them in a place that shows a vast need for improvement… And fast! As the head coach and general manager of the German national team, Sturm led players to compete for their country more and even led the team to the final at the 2018 Olympics. The Germans lost the game and finished with a silver medal, but that was still an accomplishment for the country.

Sturm’s Experience With the Ontario Reign Should Play a Big Role Too

Before the 2022-23 season, Sturm was named the head coach of the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League (AHL) following four seasons as the assistant coach of the Los Angeles Kings. In his time with the Reign, Sturm not only led them to two 90-plus point seasons, but they also made the playoffs each season.

In his first season, the Reign were unable to win a game and lost in two consecutive games to the Colorado Eagles. The following season, however, Sturm led Ontario to the conference finals after winning the first five games – sweeping the Bakersfield Condors (2-0) and the Abbotsford Canucks (3-0) before being swept by the Coachella Valley Firebirds (3-0).

While the Reign have consistently been a Pacific Division powerhouse in the AHL, it’s apparent they did not hit their stride until Sturm came along, as he delivered two of their best seasons since being elevated from the ECHL. While Boston has a solid core, it will be important to watch how that core relates to Sturm as a coach, who will seemingly get along with the players very well.

The Criticism Still Shouldn’t Be Ignored

While there are plenty of reasons to look at Sturm’s hiring with a positive spin, it’s also important to remember that it is his first go-around as a head coach at the NHL level. Holding the locker room together is going to be key, especially after both coaches in the 2024-25 season had it for a short bit and then lost it soon after.

Expectations internally should be set high for the players, given their track record, but the leash that general manager (GM) Don Sweeney and president Cam Neely give him should be a long one, despite the expectations fans will be putting on Sturm’s shoulders from day one.