One former Edmonton head coach was reportedly the runner-up for the Bruins' head coaching position behind Marco Sturm.
When the Boston Bruins' offseason began in mid-April following an overtime loss in the season finale at home against the New Jersey Devils, general manager Don Sweeney embarked on a long head coaching search. Even though interim coach Joe Sacco was on the list of candidates, you knew that they were going to go in a different direction.
Going in a different direction is just what they did when, on Thursday morning, they announced that former forward Marco Sturm was the next head coach. It was a hire that had been rumored for some time and was official. There were other names in the running for the job, and one NHL writer revealed who was the runner-up to Sturm for the job.
NHL writer releases runner-up to Maroc Sturm for Bruins coaching job
Jimmy Murphy of RG Media posted on his X account that former Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft was second. There had been some chatter earlier in the week that the Dallas Stars were considering a coaching change behind their bench after being eliminated in the Western Conference Final by the Oilers, and maybe the Black and Gold were waiting to see if Pete DeBoer would become available. According to Murphy, that wasn't the case either.
It's not surprising that the Bruins went ahead with Sturm as their head coach compared to waiting to see what would happen with DeBoer, but Woodcroft finishing second was not a surprise either. Sweeney wanted someone with head coaching experience, and Woodcroft certainly had that. Mitch Love was also rumored to be in the mix in Boston.
As for Sacco, he quickly found a new job, being hired on Thursday night as an assistant coach with the New York Rangers under Mike Sullivan's staff. Sacco has a great hockey mind, and it was only a matter of time before he landed on his feet.
