Bro, how. Answer me this. People keep repeating this without a clue.
Marco Sturm played several seasons in Boston after Sweeney and Neely retired as players, so not a former teammate. He was gone well before Sweeney was Gm.
He’s German, and came up coaching in Europe. Like what do you want? Is everybody who played hockey part of the “old boys club”?
You guys know head coaches should generally have some experience, right? Who should the hire, a Redditor? Sturm started his NHL coaching career as an assistant in LA, a team he played half a season for. Not exactly a legacy hire like Rob Blake. Dude helped the German national team glow up, got a chance in LA, and has parlayed that into a head coaching job.
I swear to god some hockey fans, and especially Bruins fans, just love to bitch. Coach with lots of HC experience? “oLd bOyS cLuBb” Highly sought after college or assistant coach getting his first chance in the NHL? “uNpRoVeN” Minor league coach getting a shot with the big club? “cRoNyIsM”
You know professionals network and work with each other and shit, right? So who was the ideal candidate that the Bruins should have hired, who 1. Never played for them or worked for them, 2. Didn’t have previous NHL head coach experience, 3. Has a proven but not too proven track record, 4. Has no ties to any other coaching tree, lest they be nepotistic cronies?