Scotty Bowman, Doug Armstrong, Jon Cooper and other Cup-winning team-builders weigh in on Boston's record-setting regular season.
theathletic.com
In that context, who better to break down this historic Bruins season than Scotty Bowman, who coached both that ’77 Habs team and the ’96 Red Wings team.
When I reached out to the NHL’s all-time winningest coach on Easter Sunday, hoping for a mere comment on the Bruins’ season, I didn’t expect the lengthy text message I got back.
Here’s what he attributes the success to:
“The offseason and in-season acquisitions, starting a year ago with Hampus Lindholm and this year (Pavel) Zacha, (Dmitry) Orlov, (Garnet) Hathaway, (Tyler) Bertuzzi. To me, two line switches, moving DeBrusk with Marchand and Bergeron and getting (David) Krejci back to make an all-Czech line with Pastrnak and Zacha has taken a lot of scoring pressure off the Bergeron line. Previously, the Bergeron line seemed to have to be counted on for too much.
“Then when you factor in the depth with (Charlie) Coyle, (Trent) Frederic,
Tomas Nosek,
Taylor Hall, Bertuzzi, Hathaway, (Nick) Foligno, you have a very deep forward group. Their defence group has improved so much with Lindholm and Orlov to add with McAvoy, (Brandon) Carlo and others. It is as complete a lineup, including the two goaltenders Ullmark and (Jeremy) Swayman, that I have not seen for a long time.
“Jimmy Montgomery does not use a short bench and has the knack of making all his players involved. He has won in the USHL, Western Collegiate with Denver and did a great coaching job with
Dallas. He has a very open-minded style and exudes confidence to his group. I have spoken to Jim on occasion this year, and he is very appreciative of getting back in with St. Louis and now Boston.
“They will enter the playoffs with extreme confidence, and I would be so surprised if they falter. However, we all know in seven-game series, upsets are always in the mix. Don Sweeney and Cam Neely are experienced, serious guys who have made some outstanding moves all the way around, so it has been a total team effort. A lot of people have not mentioned their record-setting season has been accomplished in a tough conference with other strong teams like Toronto, Tampa,
Carolina,
New Jersey, the
Rangers and others. In a very high-scoring league now, they have shown consistent defensive abilities.”