At last the inevitable deed has been done. Jim Montgomery has been fired and his associate Joe Sacco has been elevated to head coach.
Now the focus shifts to Bruins GM Don Sweeney.
The players may be ultimately responsible for what direction this team takes, but Sweeney is the one who hired the players. The play has fallen so far off from the organization's standards that Sweeney acknowledged that, if they are the Stanley Cup contender they thought they were in the summer, then they will have to take "baby steps" to get there.
On the ice, they're a mess. The offense, the defense, the penalty kill and the power play are all in the bottom third of the league. The PP takes the prize of being ranked 32nd in a 32-team league. Simple 10-foot passes and dump-ins for line changes are not being executed.
Their best players are struggling. David Pastrnak leads the team with eight goals, but it's anyone's guess what you'll get from him every night. The B's had six power plays in Montgomery's final game on Monday, but Pastrnak didn't land a shot on net all night. Brad Marchand, coming off three offseason surgeries, has been inconsistent in his play, as has Charlie McAvoy. Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Morgan Geekie have all played below expectations. And, of course, nothing gets a coach fired quicker than bad goaltending and Jeremy Swayman, fresh off signing his $66 million contract, has an .884 save percentage.
"It's a hard wrap your head around the fact that we've got maybe upwards of 10 players that are off of what their norms would be ... That's concerning," said Sweeney.
Considering those players' track records with this team, whether it's long or short, it's reasonable to think they can turn it around.
However, it's hard to know what to expect from Sweeney's two big offseason hires, center Elias Lindholm and big defenseman Nikita Zadorov, in whom the GM invested a total of $84.25 million. They are new to the whole Bruins' operation and, frankly, it hasn't gone well for either one of them. Lindholm hasn't worked out as Pastrnak's set-up man and hasn't scored a goal since the third game of the season.
Zadorov, meanwhile, leads the league in minor penalties and seems at times to have an identity crisis of whether he's a shutdown defenseman or a carry-the-mail guy.
Sweeney doesn't question whether they fit here or not, but acknowledged they need to be better.
"I don't think there's a concern that there's not a good fit. They have not played to the level we've expected them to but, again, you pointed out, it's pretty widespread," said Sweeney. "In Elias's case, he missed a lot of camp so he didn't develop chemistry with whom we envisioned him playing with and then he got off to a rough start and he bounced around (he's now playing with Marchand). He's found a little more traction ... but it's not translating to the results we want. He's acknowledged that publicly.
"There's a transitional phase for all players who come here, yes, but that time's over with. Well past, as matter of fact, especially for established players in the league."
Zadorov has his own set of issues.
"Nikita, we want another level from him as well. He's shown pockets of it, but he got off to a tough start, taking too many penalties and putting himself (in the position) of trying to be an aggressive player and bring the identity of what's been described as and has found himself in the box," said Sweeney. "Then all of a sudden, you're playing more tentatively and we need him to re-assert himself. Obviously with the pressure of Hampus (Lindholm) being injured now, the microscope falls there. Yeah, they need to be better. They've admitted that and they will. But from a fit standpoint and the identification that those were players that would help us, I'm not second-guessing whether they are right now. I'm second-guessing the performance of them and our group."
Perhaps a different -- if not new -- voice can help put Lindholm and Zadorov at the same starting point as everyone else. Enter Sacco, the straight-talking son of Medford, Mass., who has been waiting for his second chance to coach a team since being let go by the Colorado Avalanche in his fourth season in 2012-13.
Sacco's been an assistant with with the B's since the 2014-15 season, dating back to the Claude Julien era. He said it, was a "bittersweet" day for him, acknowledging his friendship with Montgomery. But he's also excited for the chance. Maybe his time in the background can help lead him to success. It's been known to happen. Bruce Cassidy went 14 years between head coaching jobs and when given a second chance, he took the B's to doorstep of a Stanley Cup. He won it on his third try in Vegas. Mike Sullivan spent a decade between jobs after getting fired here. When he got his chance, he won two straight Cups in Pittsburgh.
Sacco's biggest lesson from his first head coaching job?
"The biggest thing for me is personalizing relationships with players. That's the biggest thing for me," said Sacco. "I think I was 39 when I first got hired. And I felt I didn't do a good enough job of developing relationships with individuals. I was more focused on the structure of the team and the systems we were playing. At the end of the day, that's all important. It all matters. But what it is really important is your relationship with your players."
What's most important to Sweeney is making this team the "hard out" that it once was. Simply put, this Bruins team has been an easy team to play against, something that is anathema to ancient Bruins' culture. The B's have not always been the most talented team over their century of play, but teams never liked playing them.
We'll see how long it takes to restore that. The first baby step is Thursday night against the Utah Hockey Club.