Bruins fire coach Claude Julien after 419 wins, Cup title
BOSTON — The Bruins felt they needed to a change at the top, even if it meant doing it on a day when the city was celebrating a championship.
Boston fired Stanley Cup-winning coach Claude Julien on Tuesday, just hours before a downtown parade in honour of the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl victory.
General manager Don Sweeney apologized for the timing, but said the team’s two-day break between games provided time to recover from the emotions of Julien’s dismissal. He said he wasn’t oblivious of the optics, but added “I’m not going to make a decision just based on that.”
With the team in danger of missing the playoffs for a third straight season, Sweeney felt he had little choice. Boston has lost two in a row and six of nine and fallen out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Assistant Bruce Cassidy was named interim coach.