List of Boston Bruins head coaches

The Boston Bruins, a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, 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]

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]

## Key[edit]

# | Number of coaches[A]

|

GC | Games coached
W | Wins
L | Losses
T/OT | Ties 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[edit]

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. #  | Name  | Term  | Regular season  | Playoffs  | Championships/awards won  | Reference

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GC  | W  | L  | T/OT  | Win%  | GC  | W  | L  | T
1 | Art Ross* | 1924–1934 | 430 | 214 | 161 | 55 | .497 | 31  | 14  | 12 | 5 |  | [4]
2 | Frank Patrick *† | 1934–1936 | 96 | 48 | 36 | 12 | .563 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |  | [18]
— | Art Ross* | 1936–1939 | 144 | 89 | 39 | 16 | .674 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0 | Stanley Cup championship (1939) | [4]
3 | Cooney Weiland† | 1939–1941 | 96 | 58 | 20 | 18 | .698 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 0 | Stanley Cup championship (1941) | [19]
— | Art Ross* | 1941–1945 | 198 | 84 | 90 | 24 | .485 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 0 |  | [4]
4 | Dit Clapper† | 1945–1949 | 230 | 102 | 88 | 40 | .530 | 25 | 8 | 17 | 0 |  | [20]
5 | Georges Boucher | 1949–1950 | 70 | 22 | 32 | 16 | .429 | —  | —  | — | — |  | [21]
6 | Lynn Patrick* | 1950–1954 | 310 | 117 | 130 | 63 | .479 | 40 | 16 | 23 | 1 |  | [22]
7 | Milt Schmidt* | 1954–1961 | 460 | 172 | 203 | 75 | .455 | 34 | 15 | 19 | 0 |  | [23]
8 | Phil Watson | 1961–1962 | 84 | 16 | 55 | 13 | .268 | —  | —  | — | — |  | [13]
— | Milt Schmidt* | 1962–1966 | 266 | 73 | 157 | 46 | .361 | — | — | — | — |  | [23]
9 | Harry Sinden*† | 1966–1970 | 296 | 136 | 105 | 55 | .552 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 0 | Stanley Cup championship (1970) | [12]
10 | Tom Johnson*† | 1970–1973 | 208 | 142 | 43 | 23 | .738 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0 | Stanley Cup championship (1972) | [11]
11 | Bep Guidolin | 1973–1974 | 104 | 72 | 23 | 9 | .736 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 0 |  | [24]
12 | Don Cherry | 1974–1979 | 400 | 231 | 105 | 64 | .658 | 55 | 31 | 24 | 0 | Jack Adams Award winner (1976) | [25]
13 | Fred Creighton | 1979–1980 | 73 | 40 | 20 | 13 | .637 | —  | —  | — | — |  | [26]
— | Harry Sinden*† | 1980 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | .857 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 |  | [12]
14 | Gerry Cheevers*† | 1980–1985 | 376 | 204 | 126 | 46 | .604 | 34 | 15 | 19 | 0 |  | [27]
— | Harry Sinden*† | 1985 | 24 | 11 | 10 | 3 | .521 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |  | [12]
15 | Butch Goring | 1985–1986 | 93 | 42 | 38 | 13 | .522 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |  | [28]
16 | Terry O'Reilly† | 1986–1989 | 227 | 115 | 86 | 26 | .564 | 37 | 17 | 19 | 1 |  | [29]
17 | Mike Milbury | 1989–1991 | 160 | 90 | 49 | 21 | .628 | 40 | 23 | 17 | 0 |  | [30]
18 | Rick Bowness | 1991–1992 | 80 | 36 | 32 | 12 | .525 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 |  | [31]
19 | Brian Sutter | 1992–1995 | 216 | 120 | 73 | 23 | .609 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0 |  | [32]
20 | Steve Kasper† | 1995–1997 | 164 | 66 | 78 | 20 | .463 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |  | [33]
21 | Pat Burns* | 1997–2000 | 254 | 105 | 103 | 46 | .504 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 0 | Jack Adams Award winner (1998) | [34]
22 | Mike Keenan | 2000–2001 | 74 | 33 | 34 | 7 | .547 | —  | —  | — | — |  | [35]
23 | Robbie Ftorek | 2001–2003 | 155 | 76 | 65 | 14 | .577 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 |  | [36]
24 | Mike O'Connell† | 2003 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | .500 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |  | [37]
25 | Mike Sullivan | 2003–2006 | 164 | 70 | 79 | 15 | .543 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 |  | [9]
26 | Dave Lewis | 2006–2007 | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | .463 | — | — | — | — |  | [38]
27 | Claude Julien | 2007–2017 | 759 | 419 | 246 | 94 | .614 | 97 | 57 | 40 | — | Stanley Cup championship (2011), Jack Adams Award winner (2009) | [15]
28 | Bruce Cassidy | 2017–2022 | 399 | 245 | 108 | 46 | .672 | 73 | 36 | 37 | 0 | Jack Adams Award winner (2020) | [39]
29 | Jim Montgomery | 2022–present | 164 | 112 | 32 | 20 | .744 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 0 | Jack Adams Award winner (2023) | [40]

## Notes[edit]

* A A running total of the number of coaches of the Bruins. Thus any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.

## References[edit]

General

* "Boston Bruins Coach Register". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
* "Boston Bruins – History". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-06-29.

Specific

1. ^ a b c "Boston Bruins – History". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
2. ^ "Northeastern University Athletics Official Website". Gonu.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
3. ^ Katy Fitzpatrick (October 2, 2009). ""New Season Brings Renovated Arena for Northeastern," USCHO.com, October 2, 2009". Uscho.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
4. ^ a b c d "Art Ross". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-07. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
5. ^ "List of honored Builders". Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
6. ^ "List of honored Officials". Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
7. ^ "List of honored Players". Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
8. ^ "List of honored Players by Position". Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2008-01-06.
9. ^ a b "Mike Sullavin". Hockeydb.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-22. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
10. ^ Crosby, Wes (December 12, 2015). "Penguins fire Johnston, name Sullivan coach". nhl.com. National Hockey League. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2015. "The Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday fired coach Mike Johnston and replaced him with Mike Sullivan."
11. ^ a b "Tom Johnson". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
12. ^ a b c d "Harry Sinden". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
13. ^ a b "Phil Watson". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
14. ^ "Dave Lewis ousted as Bruins coach". CBC Sports. cbc.ca. 2007-06-15. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
15. ^ a b "Claude Julien". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
16. ^ "Bruins Relieve Bruce Cassidy Of Coaching Duties". NHL.com. June 6, 2022. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 8, 2022.
17. ^ "Jim Montgomery Named 29th Head Coach Of The Boston Bruins | Boston Bruins". www.nhl.com. 2022-07-01. Archived from the original on 2024-05-18. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
18. ^ "Frank Patrick". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
19. ^ "Cooney Weiland". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
20. ^ "Dit Clapper". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
21. ^ "Georges Boucher". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
22. ^ "Lynn Patrick". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
23. ^ a b "Milt Schmidt". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
24. ^ "Bep Guidolin". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
25. ^ "Don Cherry". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
26. ^ "Fred Creighton". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
27. ^ "Gerry Cheevers". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
28. ^ "Butch Goring". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
29. ^ "Terry O'Reilly". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
30. ^ "Mike Milbury". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
31. ^ "Rick Bowness". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2022-05-21. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
32. ^ "Brian Sutter". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
33. ^ "Steve Kasper". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
34. ^ "Pat Burns". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-09-04. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
35. ^ "Mike Keenan". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
36. ^ "Robbie Ftorek". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
37. ^ "Mike O'Connell". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
38. ^ "Dave Lewis". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
39. ^ "Bruce Cassidy". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
40. ^ "Jim Montgomery". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference, LLC. Archived from the original on 2018-07-06. Retrieved 2024-05-17.

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