Fifteen years later, Marco Sturm is returning to the Boston Bruins.
The organization announced on Thursday that the former player will be its next head coach.
Sturm, 46, led the Ontario Reign — the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings — for the past three seasons.
“Throughout this process, our goal was to identify a coach who could uphold our strong defensive foundation while helping us evolve offensively. We were also looking for a communicator and leader — someone who connects with players, develops young talent, and earns the respect of the room,” general manager Don Sweeney said in a statement.
“Marco impressed us at every step with his preparation, clarity and passion.”
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on the 32 Thoughts podcast in May that Sturm was “very interested” in making the jump to the NHL.
“A guy who’s ambitious, a guy who understands players, a guy who has respect. People respect Sturm. He’s got a good reputation,” Friedman said.
The Vancouver Canucks reportedly spoke with Sturm about their own bench opening before turning to assistant Adam Foote instead.
Sturm also coached his native Germany to a men’s hockey silver medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
As a player, Sturm had 438 points in 938 career games with the San Jose Sharks, Bruins, Kings, Canucks (six games), Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers.
Boston fired head coach Jim Montgomery 20 games into the 2024–25 season, elevating assistant Joe Sacco to the interim role.
Sacco finished with a 25-30-7 record after replacing Montgomery on Nov. 19, presiding over a team that was further depleted by a trade deadline purge of captain Brad Marchand and a handful of other players from the roster.
The Bruins were 33-39-10 in all, tied for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. Only three teams in the league were worse.
— with files from The Associated Press
