New Bruins Head Coach Excited To Get Started

It will be a tall task, admittedly. Still, thanks to the impact and lessons that former stars like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand left on the organization and the current core, Sturm is coming into a dressing room that needs a guiding light to bring them back to the glory days.

Marchand’s departure shocked the city of Boston, and watching him head to sunset Florida, and help the Panthers secure their second consecutive Stanley Cup has no doubt left a sour taste in the Original Six squad's mouth. 

Boston’s last cup came in 2011, and the entirety of the roster has either retired or no longer plays for the Bruins. But players like David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy were sponges, soaking up all the knowledge from some of the guys who raised the holy grail.

The likes of Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask were between the pipes back then, and what's so significant about the year is that it came during the same season that Sturm was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Which was the closest he came to winning a Stanley Cup.

But now calling the shots behind the bench, Sturm has a good mix of veterans and young guys. Matthew Poitras and Fabian Lysell up front, and Mason Lohrei and Victor Soderstrom on the backend, provide the Bruins with some nice pieces to work with, and surely, a retired veteran of 14 NHL seasons has a few tips and tricks to take the Bruins from mediocrity to legitimacy.

Boston is coming off a 76-point season, which left them buried at the bottom of the NHL standings, and looking like a sealiner that is treading water, instead of making the waves that the TD Garden faithful had long been accustomed to.

Sturm's No. 16 may not hang from the rafters in Boston, but his excitement and focus on getting them back into top form could be the way that he writes a legacy off the ice for the Bruins, that etches his name in the NHL history books.