When the Boston Bruins hired Marco Sturm as their next head coach, it caught some by surprise. It was his first head coaching gig in the NHL after a stint with the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant, and he was a head coach in the minors.
It was going to be interesting to see how he was going to translate things from the American Hockey League (AHL) to the NHL. Things didn't start well, but they certainly finished well above what was expected.
In what was considered a retool season, the Black and Gold exceeded a lot of expectations. They started the season slowly and looked like they buried themselves in the Eastern Conference standings, but they battled their way out of it. Christopher Gaspar of the Boston Globe ranked the four Boston sports coaches, and it was surprising where he had Sturm.
Boston Globe ranked Marco Sturm as top of their head coaching power rankings in Boston
Gaspar ranked Sturm No. 1, followed by Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots, Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics, third, 4. Marko Mitrović of the New England Revolution is fourth, and Boston Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy is fifth.
"Like the Bruins themselves, this is probably a surprise. Ultimately, the job of a coach is to get the most out of a team. Nobody maximized their talent more than Sturm, who squeezed every last ounce of blood from the Spoked-B rock in his rookie season behind the bench. After the Bruins broke up their core and finished tied for the worst record and point differential in the Eastern Conference in 2025, Sturm guided them to 100 points and a return to the Stanley Cup playoffs. They were bounced by a superiorly equipped Sabres team in six games,'' wrote Gaspar.
Let's not sugarcoat it, this ranking is a little surprising. Vrabel brought the Patriots to the Super Bowl this season past February, but the off-the-field scandal is something that Gaspar mentioned. Mazzulla just won 50 games as the Celtics head coach without superstar Jayson Tatum for most of the season and finished with the second seed in the Eastern Conference. The Revolution is having a bounce-back season, and the Red Sox are a complete dumpster fire right now.
When the Bruins' season started, not many, if anyone, had them recording 100 points in the standings. Sure, they could have made the playoffs with between 90-95 points, most thought, but not many people had the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs bottoming out this season. It'll be interesting to see what Year 2 holds for Sturm.
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