Former Bruins coach doesn’t expect to be emotional in return to TD Garden

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Former Bruins coach doesn’t expect to be emotional in return to TD Garden

Matt Vautour · MassLive

Thu, Dec 4, 2025 ·

5 min read

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BOSTON — Jim Montgomery doesn’t expect to be emotional on Thursday night.

The former Boston coach will be back at TD Garden for the first time since he was fired by the Bruins last year. He said he had both fond memories and disappointing ones from his time in the city and the organization. But he didn’t expect to be emotional at game time.

“This game matters to me. No doubt I want to win. Let’s be clear about that. But the emotions of it? No,” he said. “I’ve got to coach a game. I got to get our team ready to beat the Boston Bruins.

“I expect it to be a great environment. This is always one of the best places to play,” he added. “I expect it to be loud. I expect the game to be very intense. You know, they’re a little over .500. We’re under .500. So it means a lot for both teams.”

Montgomery was fired on November 19, just 20 games into the 2024-25 season. The Bruins came into that year with high expectations and sputtered to a 8-9-3 start.

Five days later, the Blues hired him.

Montgomery’s family stayed in Boston for the remainder of the year, allowing his kids to finish the school year. The fact that this isn’t his first time back takes some of the emotion out of it.

“I think it does help. I spent two months here in May and June, before we moved as a family,” said Montgomery, who has 28 friends from Winchester coming to Thursday’s game. “We loved living in Boston. We loved every part of it. Being in the energy of the city last night, it made me miss Boston, you know? But my life is in St. Louis now. And I’m very grateful for my time here. I’m very grateful to be in St. Louis.”

Montgomery spent a little over two seasons in Boston. He won the Jack Adams Trophy after leading the Bruins to the best record in the NHL in 2022-23. But they lost to the Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. After Florida bounced them in the first round again in 2023-24, Boston retooled its roster for 2024-25 and never got in sync and Montgomery was the fall guy. He thought his time in Boston made him a better coach.

“A lot of great memories. You know, the disappointing memory, too, of the first round loss to Florida,” he said. “But for me, it’s always about people, the great players, the management that I got the opportunity to work with. Everybody here made me better, in my opinion.”

What did he learn in Boston?

“How to help leaders,” said Montgomery, who won’t have to face David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, who are both out with injuries. “After working with great leaders like (Patrice Bergeron) and (Brad) Marchand and Pasta and Charlie Mac, you really know how the flow of conversation should work between a staff and the leaders and how important that is to the success and growth of the team throughout the year.”

Montgomery said he was still self-evaluating the Bruins failure when the Blues called.

“It happened so quickly. I was still in the mode of, ‘Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong?’ And then all of a sudden the phone rings and you got to start,” he said. “It helps you get over it quicker. But I still felt like it would have been healthy to have more time. It’s just the way my brain works.”

The Bruins continued to struggle after he left and the Blues got better upon his arrival. But Montgomery said he only contributed to any of the successes or failures, he’s been connected to.

“I don’t think anytime teams fail it’s just one person. Like, it’s impossible. Everybody had a hand in the success of the great year that we had, the one season. Everybody had a hand in why we failed last year,” he said. “I would say the same thing. In St. Louis last year, everybody had a hand in why we took off like we did. And this year, why we struggle is the same thing. Everybody has a hand.

“I just think the experiences that you go through, they help prepare you,” he continued. “There’s no question that I was better prepared to handle the lack of success this year than I was last year. And expectations drive a lot of that.”

Not including goalies, there are just 10 players on the Bruins who were on the team when Montgomery left. And with Pastrnak and McAvoy out, only eight will be on the ice.

“The people I do have long history with, the equipment managers, the athletic trainers, the people that work in the Garden, the people that work in the office, (Don Sweeney), (Cam) Neely. There’s a lot of great memories with all those people,” Montgomery said. “I saw a couple equipment guys yesterday, but I haven’t had the opportunity (to see the others) yet. They don’t morning skate here. So probably later.”

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