Bruins’ Joe Sacco Head Coaches First NHL Game In 11 Years

The puck dropped on Joe Sacco’s interim coaching debut with the Boston Bruins against the Utah Hockey Club.

Boston promoted Sacco to interim coach on Tuesday after relieving former bench boss Jim Montgomery of his duties.

Despite being given the interim title, GM Don Sweeney and the Bruins want to give Sacco a real opportunity to make the role his before making any other decisions.

“I believe Joe Sacco has the coaching experience to bring the players and the team back to focusing on the consistent effort the NHL requires to have success,” Sweeney said in a statement following the coaching change.

Related: Who Else Could Become The Boston Bruins’ Next Head Coach?

With his debut, Sacco’s coached his first NHL game in 11 years. He was previously hired as the Colorado Avalanche’s bench boss in 2009.

“It’s an exciting day for me,” Sacco told reporters earlier Thursday. “These opportunities don’t come around often.”

Sacco led the Avalanche for four seasons. Colorado only made the playoffs once, and it was during his debut season in 2009-10. They lost in the first round to the San Jose Sharks. In the other three seasons, Colorado finished fourth, third and fifth of five teams in the Northwest Division.

Sacco’s record as an NHL coach is 130-134-30. His last game in Colorado was April 27, 2013.

The 55-year-old was also the coach for Team USA for the World Championship in 2013, in which his team won the bronze medal.

Sacco also has years of NHL coaching experience after his time in Colorado. After one year as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres in 2013-14, Sacco served as an assistant coach in Boston from 2014-15 to 2023-24 and then as an associate coach to start this campaign.

Sacco worked beside three different coaches during his time with the Bruins. His tenure in Boston began when he worked under Claude Julien for over two years.

Bruce Cassidy was also briefly an assistant coach with Sacco. However, during the 2016-17 season, Cassidy was promoted to head coach, a path similar to the one Sacco is following. Then came Montgomery six years later.

Going into Thursday’s game, the Bruins hold onto fifth place in the Atlantic Division amid a three-game winless streak. Their latest loss came against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 5-1 defeat. 

Sacco is looking to shake things in the right direction. 

“I think we’re looking forward to getting this team playing better, getting them playing the way they’re capable of playing,” Sacco said.

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