BOSTON Bruins

JUST NOW:Bruins ex-bench manager Claude Julien would coach again—if the scenario was perfect….

Published

6 months ago

March 18, 2024

This story originally appeared in Sunday Hockey Notes. Read the rest here.

Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli, left, poses with new Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien after presenting him with a team jersey and cap at a news conference in Boston Thursday, June 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Ex-Bruins coach Claude Julien, back in town recently for the club’s continuing centennial celebration, lives with his wife and children in downtown Ottawa.

Hired promptly by the Canadiens to run their bench after his dismissal by the Bruins in February 2017, Julien hasn’t coached in the NHL since being let go 18 games into the 2020-21 season, with the Habs 9-5-4. His ultimate successor, Martin St. Louis, entered the weekend with a 70-94-21 record.

A relaxed Julien, 63, said he would be interested in a head coaching job in the NHL, provided the situation were right.

“When I say that,” noted Julien, “it could be a team with kids that are developing, or a team that’s competing now for a run at the Cup. It wouldn’t matter, just so long as I felt everyone [read: owner, GM, et al] knew what they wanted, realistically what to expect.”

That’s the voice of experience talking. Julien, the only coach to win the Cup in Boston since Tom Johnson (1972), oft was picked apart by media and players alike for his conservative approach, especially the offensive limitations he imposed on his defensemen. But it proved successful for a long time (857 games and 476 wins, including playoffs) and could again, albeit with the right franchise and support/coaching staff.

Since coaching Montreal, Julien has scouted for the Blues (for whom ex-Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli is vice president of hockey operations) and for two years has been an adviser to Swiss team Ambri-Piotta.

The Juliens sold the family home in Lexington not long after Claude departed for the Montreal gig, but remain frequent visitors, in part because they want to maintain ties with the medical community that has cared for their three children since infancy.

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So the odds seem to be stacked against them. But perhaps they’ll continue to abide by the “never tell me the odds” credo and pull this off.

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