Montgomery Destroys Bruins On And Off The Ice
Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has had enough of his team’s uneven efforts and sloppy play, which have become all too common during the last two games.
The Bruins’ second-year bench boss ripped into his team on the field at practice Monday before the Bruins left for the second leg of their six-game road trip, which will continue on Tuesday night against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, FL. Clearly, the 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday left a bad taste in the mouth of the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner, because from the moment Jim Montgomery stepped on the ice at Warrior Arena on Monday morning until the team’s end-of-practice stretch at center ice, the head coach was hammering into his players.
“Wake the fu!ck up!” Montgomery exclaimed as he took his normal location along the boards, then bag-skated the squad for 10 minutes while yelling expletives and commands.
After some drills, the team divided into two groups and played a spirited scrimmage, with Montgomery remaining outspoken until he departed the ice.
“Well, sometimes I just like to stretch my vocal cords and grab you guys’ (the media) attention and see if it can reach you guys up there, so I guess I did,” Montgomery joked when asked what had gotten into him. “No, but seriously, I disliked how we ended the game in Philadelphia. It was a good hockey game, with playoff-like intensity and ferocity. I don’t think I did a good enough job of explaining the subtleties and game management that we required, and we weren’t ready to practice today.
So that is why. Those problems, along with the inability to begin practice on time and the boys’ lack of understanding of what we were supposed to be doing. Again, I accept responsibility, but the players must also bear some responsibility.
When asked to comment on his current evaluation of the 2023-24 Boston Bruins as they prepare to play the final ten games of the season and the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Jim Montgomery did not mince words.
“I don’t think our team is ready for the playoffs,” Montgomery stated simply. “We have to continue to be tested, and we will. It has been uneven throughout the year. We have terrific stretches where we manage the game, and then we drift away from it. You cannot avoid it. You just cannot give a game away in the playoffs because you will not be able to play the following week.
Montgomery concluded his well-deserved and long-overdue rage by pointing out his team’s lack of accountability.
“What needs to change,” he continued, “is more accountability in our team, valuing playing the right way always.”
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand appeared to anticipate a difficult session and tongue-lashing from his head coach, and he agreed with everything Montgomery said.
“Every day, it’s our job to be sharp, to be on the ball, and we weren’t today,” Marchand admitted. “It was a great reminder from Monty that expectations are high here, which is completely justified, especially given the games we have coming up and where we are in the season.” We must be dialed in every day. We weren’t supposed to start the practice, so he did an excellent job of noticing it, holding us accountable, and keeping us focused.”
