The Boston Bruins have had a proud tradition of excellence that has lasted for nearly a century. In the Bruins 92-year history, the Black and Gold have 27 men hold the position of head coach. Some of these coaches have left a serious personal imprint in the history of the organization. Gerry Cheevers, Milt Schmidt. Don Cherry. Individuals who worked their way up through the league to earn the coveted position of head coach of the Boston Bruins.
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Former Bruins head coach Art Ross held a longstanding record with the organization. His 387 career wins as the Bruins head coach was formidable. Now, there is a new name atop the all-time leader board among Bruins head coaches. With the Bruins’ 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers tonight, Claude Julien now stands alone as Boston’s all-time coaching wins leader with 388 wins. (Julien’s career record in Boston is now 388-215-85).
Not bad for a coach whose future wasn’t entirely certain at the beginning of this season.
Claude Julien became the Bruins head coach on June 21, 2007, making him the longest tenured current head coach in all of the National Hockey League. In his eight previous seasons as the Bruins bench boss, he has led the Black and Gold to the playoffs seven times. In those seven appearances, he has helped the Bruins tally 57 playoff wins (also a Bruins record). In Julien’s career with the Bruins, he won the Jack Adams Trophy as the league’s top coach(2008-09), the President’s Trophy (2014), brought the B’s to two Stanley Cup Finals, and coached the Bruins to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2011.
While Julien’s coaching resume for the Bruins is impressive, he’s also got an extensive resume’ for coaching at the international level.
He was an assistant coach for Team Canada in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia(where Canada won the gold). He was head coach of Team Canada at the 2000 World Junior Championship(Bronze medal), an assistant coach for Team Canada in the 2006 World Junior Championships(silver medal), and he served as an assistant coach for Team Canada in the 2006 World Championships.
Not bad for a guy who played only 14 games at the NHL level, and spent the better part of 12 seasons bouncing around four different leagues (IHL, CHL, AHL, and NHL).
On some level, it was appropriate that he earned this win against the Florida Panthers. Several former Bruins are currently on the Panthers roster, and several current Bruins used to be Panthers.
The Bruins organization released a statement earlier this evening announcing that the B’s would honor Claude Julien’s accomplishment at a pregame ceremony just before the Bruins game against the Florida Panthers on March 24.
Congratulations to Claude Julien, his family, the Boston Bruins, and all the hockey fans and players that have put on a Black and Gold sweater in the last century. Tonight, we all got to watch another great piece of Bruins history unfold. It’s a well deserved landmark coach.