Boston Bruins Who is your favorite all time Bruins’ coach?

[smithformeragent]

With Bruce Cassidy returning to town with a Stanley Cup ring, seems like a fun topic to discuss.

Favorite, not necessarily greatest.

There have been many during my lifetime and many more before it, so I’m including the major names from the past 55 years and we can have an “other” category consisting of those I left off.

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[BigBadBruins7708]

restricting it to my lifetime, gotta go with Claude.

He was a great coach, he preached toughness and defense and was at the helm for the rebirth of the Big Bad Bruins (as close as you can get in the modern NHL anyways). Plus he finally got them to win a damn Cup

 

[Bruinfanatic]

I loved Grapes yeah no cups but those Montreal teams were a dynasty.

 

[DiggityDog]

Claude for me.

 

[McGarnagle]

I've only been watching since 1995 so I can't really speak for anything prior to that.

Gotta go with Clode just for the cup, even though he could be stubborn and instituted a defensive style of hockey that wasn't as fun to watch when they weren't going well.

Pat Burns with an honorable mention because he's really the guy who brought a sense of stability and gravitas to the organization after going through a lot of coaches in the 90s.

I did like Bruce but with everything that came out in his departure I suppose it was time. And until the Bruins win a cup I'm never trusting Monty after he blew last playoffs.

My crazy hot take here: Mike Keenan had that 2001 team going in the right direction, and he was the best coach Joe Thornton ever had. If that roster wasn't injured to the point where they were dressing goalies off the street or if they made the coaching change 2 weeks earlier, that team makes the playoffs and makes some noise in the playoffs. I'll always feel that way.

 

[Gee Wally]

Went with Clode.

Although have a soft spot in my heart for Grapes and Burns.

 

[BruinDust]

Claude Julien is going to win this poll by a landslide.

He's my favorite Bruins coach of all-time. But I can't comment on anyone prior to 1990 as I didn't follow the team then. The fact that the culture of defensive accountability he instilled (along with help from Mr. Chara and Mr. Bergeron among others) is still at the foundation of what they do today speaks volumes.

If I were to make some honorable mentions, I always got a kick of of Brian Sutter when he would get angry. If there was one Sutter I wouldn't want to mess with, it was Brian.

Speaking of coaches I wouldn't mess with, Pat Burns did a heck of a job here bouncing back from a complete meltdown in 1996-97 under Kasper.

Never coached the Boston Bruins, but I always wonder how things turn out if they promoted Laviolette from Providence instead of bringing in Ftorek.

He went on to success, but I couldn't stand Mike Sullivan as Bruins coach and still don't like him.

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

Taz. The Bruins came out of their mid '80's doldrums, finally beat the Habs, and made it to the SCF for the first time in a decade. They were still a tough team to play against, which slowly faded when Milbury took over and installed the "Turn the other cheek" philosophy.

 

[Acie]

Loved Pat Burns. What a guy.



Clode was the best for me though.

 

[RoccoF14]

I liked the O'Reilly/Milbury era the best....

 

[BamBamCam]

Don "GOD" Cherry AINEC

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Dave Lewis' Moustache

 

[JCRO]

In my lifetime there are more, but those that coached when I started following the team are Sully, Lewis, Clode, Cassidy and Monty.

I have to go with Clode. I know his system wasnt the most fun system to watch, but damn was it effective. Also, the team toughness helped with the fun factor in place of scoring goals lol.

A Clode team going into a third period up 2-0 wasnt going to lose. They'd lock it down. I was always so impressed with that and thats what sticks out the most in comparing him to the others I have seen in my time following this team.

 

[McGarnagle]

Claude Julien is going to win this poll by a landslide.

He's my favorite Bruins coach of all-time. But I can't comment on anyone prior to 1990 as I didn't follow the team then. The fact that the culture of defensive accountability he instilled (along with help from Mr. Chara and Mr. Bergeron among others) is still at the foundation of what they do today speaks volumes.

If I were to make some honorable mentions, I always got a kick of of Brian Sutter when he would get angry. If there was one Sutter I wouldn't want to mess with, it was Brian.

Speaking of coaches I wouldn't mess with, Pat Burns did a heck of a job here bouncing back from a complete meltdown in 1996-97 under Kasper.

Never coached the Boston Bruins, but I always wonder how things turn out if they promoted Laviolette from Providence instead of bringing in Ftorek.

He went on to success, but I couldn't stand Mike Sullivan as Bruins coach and still don't like him.

Hiring Ftorek was a massive mistake and isn't given a big enough space in the narrative that was the mess that was the early 2000s Bruins.

As already mentioned in my previous post, Mike Keenan had Joe Thornton actually moving his feet and busting his ass in 2000-2001, which resulted in a career high in goals. He was on the path to reaching his potential as a net-crashing power forward. Keenan's hardass act has always broken down and pissed off Stars after 1 to 2 seasons everywhere he went, so maybe MOC/Sinden made the right call in cutting bait before things hit the fan, but passing up Laviolette (another demanding motivational coach) and going to a twice-failed country club players' coach in Ftorek was the start of Joe Thornton's slide into becoming a pass-first perimeter player.

I also think that they gave Sullivan the job a year or two too early as a direct panic response to the success Laviolette had on Long Island after they neglected to promote him from Providence. Sully was correctly considered to be a strong future coach and was being groomed for it, but barely had a half season of AHL head coaching on his resume when he was named Boston coach, and I believe he got run over by that clique of Thornton/Boynton and their friends because he hasn't found his authoritative voice yet.

It's all butterfly effect stuff though, hard to say what would've happened if they brought Keenan back for a second year in 2002, or if Laviolette was retained for 02 through 04 - do they match the regular season success, do they overcome the Habs in the first round each time? We'll never know.

 

[Therick67]

Cherry, O'Reilly, Clode, tough to pick just one.

Least favorite is Kasper, benching Neely was as pathetic a move any coach has ever pulled...

 

[Over the volcano]

 

[bruins309]

Terry O'Reilly once led his team out of a bus with crowbars and smashed the window of a car blocking the team bus, because he wanted to get the hell out of Connecticut. That is merely one reason why he got my vote.

 

[BruinDust]

Hiring Ftorek was a massive mistake and isn't given a big enough space in the narrative that was the mess that was the early 2000s Bruins.

As already mentioned in my previous post, Mike Keenan had Joe Thornton actually moving his feet and busting his ass in 2000-2001, which resulted in a career high in goals. He was on the path to reaching his potential as a net-crashing power forward. Keenan's hardass act has always broken down and pissed off Stars after 1 to 2 seasons everywhere he went, so maybe MOC/Sinden made the right call in cutting bait before things hit the fan, but passing up Laviolette (another demanding motivational coach) and going to a twice-failed country club players' coach in Ftorek was the start of Joe Thornton's slide into becoming a pass-first perimeter player.

I also think that they gave Sullivan the job a year or two too early as a direct panic response to the success Laviolette had on Long Island after they neglected to promote him from Providence.

You are spot on about Keenan and his effect on Thornton. Keenan knew how to get the most out of his best players. I remember reading about he used to tell Brian Leetch all the time he was no Chris Chelios, even though Keenan knew that Leetch was his best player. He turned Pronger into the force we knew him for when in St. Louis together. Keenan took that team mid-season and missed the playoffs by a tie-break to Carolina (88 pts. each). Can't say I was ever a Ftorek fan. His 2nd year was dreadful. Coincidentally I was at one of his final games as a Bruins coach on trade deadline day 2003 in Ottawa.

I found Sullivan was in over his head in 2004, just not enough coaching experience. And Julien took him to school in the playoffs. I found Sullivan's teams played soft then and still do now.

 

[jgatie]

To the person who voted Dave Lewis - Thanks for being "That Guy".

 

[TCB]

Toss up between O’Reilly and Cherry but I went with Taz, I think mainly because he had my heart from his playing days as well.

 

[Sigh]

O’Rielly has a special place because he was coach when I became a fan. Burns was another fav. But this is Clode all day. Cup winner, and his teams were always entertaining. Even if he used Greg Campbell as the extra skater….

 

[weaponomega]

Milbury was the first coach I can remember. The revolving coaching door of the 90s and early 2000s made it hard to liek any of the coaches. Julien was the came in and brought stability to the team and position that I hadn't seen in my lifetime. And of course the cup.

Can't decide is Kasper or Lewis was my least favorite coach.

 

[CDJ]

Burns was the first one I remember. My rankings:

Julien
Burns
Cassidy
Monty
Sullivan
Ftorek
Keenan
Lewis

 

[DaStinger]

Lewis should be dead last... that is all.

 

[Over the volcano]

Lewis should be dead last... that is all.

I hope he's off somewhere waking up early to make the donuts