Don Sweeney confirms Claude Julien will return to coach Bruins
After nearly two months of uncertainty, Claude Julien’s fate with the Bruins has been decided.
The second-winningest coach in Bruins history will return to coach the team for a ninth season, general manager Don Sweeney confirmed on Friday at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, adding that Julien’s coaching staff will also be back for the 2015-16 season.
Julien’s future had been in question since the Bruins’ 2014-15 season came to an end. Following a 2013-14 season in which they finished with the best record in the NHL, the Bruins tallied 96 points and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07, the year before Julien was hired. The Bruins’ poor season was a factor in the team’s dismissal of former GM Peter Chiarelli.
After Sweeney was named to his post on May 20, the new Bruins GM wouldn’t commit to whether Julien would remain the team’s bench boss, saying his status with the Bruins — as well as that of Julien’s coaching staff — was “to be determined.’’
Julien’s tenure behind the Bruins bench has been quite successful. His 351 wins puts him behind only Art Ross for the most in franchise history, while the Bruins made the playoffs each of Julien’s first seven seasons, won four division titles, two Eastern Conference championships and the 2011 Stanley Cup title, their first since 1972.
Julien signed a multi-year extension with the Bruins early this past season.
Information from a previous report was used in this story.
Bruins head coaches through the years
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