Despite being two points out of a playoff spot, the Boston Bruins decided to part ways with Claude Julien and relieve him of his coaching duties. This is the second coach to be fired in the last week (the Blues fired Ken Hitchcock). Claude Julien is a Hall of Fame coach with impressive accolades, so was this the right decision or not?
Julien has an impressive resume in the National Hockey League as a coach so far. He is close to the 500 win plateau (419), and is the all time wins leader in Boston. He has more wins than Art Ross, Milt Schmidt and Don Cherry. Let’s not forget he is also a Stanley Cup Champion.
He led the Bruins in one of the most memorable finals in recent memory back in the 2012 season when Boston beat the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to claim their sixth title in franchise history. Julien also took the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013, only to lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.
The Bruins this season are 26-23-6 and are two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic. Remember the top three teams in each division reach the playoffs. Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Tuukka Rask are all having nice seasons for Beantown. The Bruins are still a young team with veterans Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara leading the way.
They’re still a couple of seasons away from being legitimate Stanley Cup Contenders, so getting the young guys a taste of the playoffs would be beneficial for the future. So with that being said, is this smart of the Bruins?
I don’t agree with this decision. How they saw fit to fire the best coach in franchise history given the current situation the Bruins are in is absolutely beyond me. This was not the right time to do this, especially in the middle of a playoff race.
Julien has been rumored to be connected to possibly being the new Vegas head coach, but whether it’s as head of the Golden Knights, the Islanders or somewhere else… he’ll be a head coach somewhere next season. Bruce Cassidy will be the interim head coach for the rest of the season — what happens after the season is yet to be determined.
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