Charlie Jacobs bemoans poor training camp, no ‘answers’ from Montgomery during lost Bruins season
"Monty didn’t necessarily have any answers. And at that point we had to make a decision.”
The Bruins’ 2024-25 season spiraled into disaster for a multitude of reasons.
Boston plummeted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 33-39-9 record — missing the postseason for the first time since 2016.
Severe regression from Jeremy Swayman (.892 save percentage) and critical injuries on the blue line splintered Boston’s foundational strength of stingy defense — with the Bruins coughing up six or more goals 15 total times this season.
Poor roster construction up front resulted in a roster short on skill and skating talent — leading to a plodding offense only propped up by the likes of David Pastrnak (106 points) and Morgan Geekie (33 goals). Boston ranked 27th in the league in goals scored (222) while also rolling out the 29th-ranked power play (15.2 percent).
But in a season where little went right for Boston, Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs also lamented the team’s sluggish training camp — as well as the inability for then-Bruins head coach Jim Montgomety to right the ship.
“I feel it was a little bit disorganized. There was a real lack of structure,” Jacobs told Jim McBride in an exclusive interview with The Boston Globe. “You see teams to come through, they have a system, they have, perhaps a fallback play, a breakout play, something. And when I watched the Boston Bruins start the season, it was just chaos.
“There was no organization, and I had a difficult time understanding that given Monty’s record. I don’t know how to answer that other than to say something just changed. And at that point you’ve shopped for the groceries, you’ve made the meal at this point, what are you going to do? Monty didn’t necessarily have any answers. And at that point we had to make a decision.”
The Bruins made the call to fire Montgomery after a disappointing 8-9-3 start in mid-November — moving on from a bench boss that posted a 120-41-23 record over 184 total games with Boston.
While the Bruins are on the outside looking in at the playoffs this spring, Montgomery has hit the ground running in his latest stop with the St. Louis Blues.
Joining St. Louis less than a week after the Bruins handed him a pink slip, Montgomery helped the Blues orchestrate a second-half surge — posting a 19-4-3 record down the stretch to clinch the team’s first playoff berth since 2022.
“It was a new challenge that I had not been tasked with yet, and I just had tons of energy, and it’s been really rewarding to watch the group come together,” Montgomery told The Boston Globe’s Andrew Mahoney following a recent practice with the Blues.
While Montgomery’s inability to snap Boston out of its early season malaise proved costly, the Bruins have more issues to address moving forward than just the state of their coaching staff.
“I feel it. I hear the boos,” Jacobs told McBride. “I feel all that and they need to know that we’re working hard to right this ship. We put our chips in for so many years that yeah, our cupboard’s dry. We’re trying to refill it and trying to build another team to go forward.
“This has been an incredibly disappointing year and on a lot of levels it’s been disappointing, and I hear a remarkable amount of frustration, and I feel a remarkable amount of frustration when I watch our team play, especially given the level of, frankly, of winning, quality hockey that we’ve seen for the past decade.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com