Glen Murray matches Marco Sturm's passion with enthusiasm for hiring of former Bruins teammate as coach

Boston Globe

6 hours ago

So began Sturm's quiet and seamless NHL re-entry, in part thanks to the bond he and Murray, proud son of the Canadian Maritimes, forged in their three seasons playing together in Boston. The two forwards (combined career goals: 579) remained in frequent contact in their early retirement years, with Murray well aware of the success Sturm built behind various Team Germany benches in those years leading up to the opening in LA on
Todd McLellan's
staff.
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Sturm's enthusiasm for the coaching craft and determination to win, noted Murray, is '100 percent real,' which was among the many points he made to
Don Sweeney
when the Bruins GM called a few weeks ago for a critique of Sturm's work across his seven years in the Kings' organization.
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Without hesitation, Murray offered his full endorsement, despite it meaning the Kings ultimately would be left to replace Sturm as bench boss for their AHL affiliate in nearby Ontario, Calif.
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Glen Murray (right) has been very supportive of his former teammate, Marco Sturm, taking over the Bruins.
Davis, Jim Globe Staff/The Boston Globe - The Boston Gl
'I told Sweens, 'This guy is passionate about the Boston Bruins' organization,'' said Murray, ' 'and he'll do everything you want, and the organization wants, to create the best team they can be.' I know they're going to be playing hard every night for Marco. He cares about the players. He's just a great, great fit.'
No matter the makeup of the Boston roster — much of that to be finalized in and around the start of NHL free agency Tuesday — Murray is confident Sturm will preach an up-tempo, puck-possession game, one both veterans and younger players will be able and eager to embrace. He was patient with the kids the Kings needed him to develop, noted Murray, while at the same time able to get the vets to buy into his game plan.
'He's a player's coach,' offered Murray. 'He knows there's a difference, vets and kids, right? But at the same time, everyone has to be accountable. He's put in the time to get this opportunity, to be in this situation he's in, and he is going to put everything he can into the organization and help that team get back to the top. No question. And it's all real. There's not one ounce of fakeness in Marco, I know that 100 percent. He has no hidden agenda. His only agenda is to make the Boston Bruins a [Stanley] Cup contender.'
During his introductory presser June 10 on Causeway Street, Sturm offhandedly noted he was alone in California throughout his seven years — four as an assistant with the varsity squad and three as the Reign's head coach.
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To land the job he wanted as one of the NHL's 32 head coaches, it meant Sturm being away from his wife and two children ostensibly for nine months a year. They remained home in southern Florida while he toiled away in SoCal, chasing after his new dream with the same zeal he showed decades earlier as a 16-year-old in Germany, intent on one day playing in the NHL.
'Tough, tough grind,' said Murray, noting the dedication needed for someone to be away from family for so long. 'I mean, he had family in and out to visit, but they weren't living here. That goes to show you in its own right that he's passionate about it. Like that's a huge thing to do, to be away from your family, with his kids still 14 and 15 at the time … it just showed that, yeah, he cares, he loves being a coach and he's willing to work.'
No quit in this guy
Kampfer keeps going in KHL
Brad Marchand
, now a two-time Cup winner, broke into the Bruins lineup as a fourth-line energy rascal in 2009-10 and had played only 97 regular-season games when he hoisted the trophy the first time in the spring of 2011.
Rookie teammate
Tyler Seguin
, who turned 19 that season, had played in 74 games. He made it to a third consecutive Western Conference final this spring with the Stars and has yet to make it back to the winner's circle.
The only other member of Boston's 2010-11 squad still chasing pucks for a living: journeyman defenseman
Steven Kampfer
, the UMichigan grad. Kampfer posted 38 games that season with the varsity but did not suit up for any of the 25 playoff games.
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Kampfer, 36, played this past season for Chelyabinsk, his first in the KHL, and helped lead Traktor to the Gagarin Cup finals (a 4-1 series loss to Yaroslavl). Three other North Americans dotted Traktor's playoff lineup: including goalie
Zach Fucale
(Quebec),
Buddy Robinson
(New Jersey) and Florida-born
Logan Day
, who played at Kents Hill School in Maine prior to college twirls with Providence and Endicott.
Raise high your hockey hand if you figured one day those four all would wear the same sweater for a team in the far western reaches of Mother Russia. The puck takes some crazy hops.
Former Northeastern blue liner
Dylan Sikura
(Ontario), who spent four seasons on
Jim Madigan's
Huskies squads (2014-18), spent the first half of the KHL season with Traktor before being dealt to Moscow Dynamo.
International intrigue
Tkachuk injury offers painful reminder
Matthew Tkachuk played through some tough injuries this season.
Nathan Denette/Associated Press
Nothing new in seeing injured players grind their way painfully through the playoffs, but the Panthers'
Matthew Tkachuk
took that to maximum 'M*A*S*H' level. He persevered through four postseason rounds while nursing a sports hernia and damaged adductor muscle he later revealed was 'torn off the bone.'
The adductor muscle is 'what brings the hips toward the body,' said one longtime doctor, not wishing to be quoted when contacted by the Globe. He added, 'Sort of important in skating.'
'He was a mess,' confirmed Panthers coach
Paul Maurice
after pocketing the back-to-back Cup wins. 'That's the medical term — a mess.'
Tkachuk's woes were a product of his participation in February's 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. An ever-present concern of NHL team owners and GMs when weighing whether to shut down the league midseason for international play is that the working help will return swaddled in medical bandages when the league reopens for business.
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Exhibit A, 2025 4 Nations: Tkachuk.
The big winger, who logged only 6:47 in ice time for Team USA in the Feb. 20 championship game vs. Canada, did not play again until the Panthers' April 22 playoff opener. He finished a robust 8-15–23 for the postseason, but still was at less than full strength and effectiveness as he shook that Cup over his head for a second time in his career earlier this month.
Tkachuk wasn't nearly his best, but still put up a point per game at the most intense time of the season. That's leadership.
'If not for our medical staff and trainers …,' mused Tkachuk, appreciative of being kept upright and in sufficient operational order.
Tkachuk, remember, led off the 4 Nations fireworks in the explosive Feb. 15 matchup vs. Canada at the Bell Centre. The puck went down for the opening faceoff and Tkachuk immediately shook off the gloves for a raging punch-and-wrestle fest with
Brandon Hagel
that went on for nearly 30 seconds. Both combatants, it should be submitted for the record, sprang right back up on their feet after their do-si-do.
Tkacuk remained in uniform the rest of the night, but logged only 11:10. A guy who hates to miss a shift, he then sat out the game at TD Garden two nights later vs. Sweden, and was limited to the 6:47 in the title game. None of which confirms it was the fight with Hagel that tore him up, and it would be a mistake even to think so because, you know … no one ever gets hurt in a hockey fight.
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Reign ends droughts
Marchand's latest Cup stirs memories
Brad Marchand lifted another Stanley Cup, 14 years after his first.
Lynne Sladky/Associated Press
Marchand went 14 years between Cup hoists. Legendary bench boss
Dick Irvin
remains the record holder as coach with most years (12) between Cup triumphs.
At age 39, in his first year behind Toronto's bench, Irvin directed the Maple Leafs to the Cup in 1932, then didn't win again until '44 with Montreal (
Toe Blake
and
Rocket Richard
his top two Canadiens wingers). Irvin guided his teams to a total 11 Cup Finals (3-8).
Local legend
Art Ross
, who in 1924 became the Boston franchise's first coach, went 10 years (1929-39) between Cup wins, a dry spell second only to Irvin's, per the NHL stats department. Ross finished 2-3 in his five Finals trips with the Bruins.
Ross's '39 champs featured the famed Kraut Line of
Milt Schmidt
,
Bobby Bauer
, and
Woody Dumart
. The three pals from Kitchener, Ontario, all shipped off to Europe for the Duration following a game at the Garden in 1942, the night ending with the Canadiens hoisting all three on their shoulders and parading them around the ice.
The three beloved Canucks weren't seen again on Causeway Street until it was over over there, returning to the Black and Gold lineup for the start of the 1945-46 season. Collectively, the Krauts lost 10½ seasons worth of their career to the war effort.
'True, we did,' a wistful Schmidt mused decades later in an interview with your faithful puck chronicler, 'but thousands of guys sacrificed way more than that.'
Loose pucks
Lokomotiv's championship KHL squad included
Byron Froese
, of the Winkler, Manitoba, Froeses, as its lone North American roster filler. Long ago a Blackhawks draft pick, Froese ventured to the KHL this season after dotting around North American pro leagues for 14 years (including 141 NHL games) … Bruins fans will remember that
Brad McCrimmon
, who joined the Black and Gold blue line with fellow rookie
Ray Bourque
in 1979-80, perished with the entire Lokomotiv team in a September 2011 plane crash. McCrimmon, 52, had just begun his first season as Yaro's head coach. His brother,
Kelly McCrimmon
, now 64, is the general manager of the Golden Knights … As noted here upon Marchand winning another Cup after 14 years, only two others endured longer droughts:
Chris Chelios
(16 years) and
Mark Recchi
(15).
Darren Helm
and
Bill Guerin
also had 14-year droughts.
Craig Ludwig
and
Brian Skrudland
had 13-year spacers before second swigs from the Cup … Ex-Bruins forward
Ryan Donato
, who turned pro with the varsity right off the Harvard campus in the spring of 2018, opted to forego the league July 1 unrestricted free agent dollarama and signed a four-year/$16 million extension to remain in the Blackhawks' roost. With a career-best line of 31-31–62 this past season, he might have been able to gin up the price in the open market. Most players chase the biggest buck, while a few balance money and fit. Chicago is Donato's fifth port o'call. At age 29 and with 483 games on his CV, he signed on for a solid wage and comfortable fit. He still has a ways to go to top dad
Ted's
796 career games/eight NHL teams …Chatter recently picked up once again that the NHL will increase its 16-team playoff field, possibly to 20, opening the second season with best-of-three play-in action. Frankly, it's a surprise here that the Lords of the Boards didn't do it as part of the Covid recovery program. The conventional pushback is that a number bigger than 16 would represent more than 50 percent of the Original 32 franchises. Yeah, so what? Once was the time, post-WHA adoption, 16 of the Original 21 made the cut. Who cares? All that matters is that the best team is left standing with the Cup. Four more teams, generating revenue from as many as 12 games across four mini-series, would bring a smile to the fan bases of four cities otherwise left chagrined and an increase in the cap number. The problem with that is? …
Patrick Kane
, still on a path to July 1 UFA, will be 37 in November. For the right dough, like the $4 million he made last season with the Red Wings, he'd be an exciting fit for the Bruins, I think, particularly with fellow energizer bunny Sturm behind the bench. In his two seasons in Detroit, post- hip surgery, Kane's line: 41-65—106 in 122 games. League wide, only 52 players over those two years exceeded Kane's 0.87 points per game average. He'd be a fine RW2 here and could flip to RW1 to help
David Pastrnak
manage minutes or escape some of the shift to shift checking pressure … The Devils, who signed ex-Bruins forward
Erik Haula
three years ago, mainly to bolster their faceoff efficiency, wheeled him back to Nashville, where he played for one season before coming here. The move took $3.15M off GM
Tom Fitzgerald's
books in New Jersey, dough he now can kneed into a rich extension for talented restricted free agent defenseman
Luke Hughes
, whose entry-level deal has expired … Still think the Predators will look to move one of three pricier forwards:
Steven Stamkos
($8 million annual average value),
Jonathan Marchessault
($5.5 million) or
Ryan O'Reilly
($4.5 million) … Yep, another frustrating year for the Maple Leafs, now 58 years down the Gardiner Expressway from their most recent Cup parade. They've already kicked team president
Brendan Shanahan
to the curb and it appears GM
Brad Treliving
will let talented winger
Mitch Marner
walk via the UFA market (teams rumored to offer him upward of $100 million over seven years). More moves to come, but it's worth noting the retooled Maple Leafs were able to stretch the mighty Panthers to a Game 7 in Round 2. Some solace there when weighed against the fact Florida lost only four games in its three other series. If Marner walks, and
John Tavares's
weighty $11 million cap hit remains off the books, Treliving will have $25 million in his July 1 shopping cart. Target No. 1? Possibly Marchand … If you were the Bruins, and flipped
Jeremy Swayman
to Utah for the No. 4 pick and a roster player (let's go with
Matias Maccelli
), what would be your next move with that fourth pick and the seventh in hand? … No word yet on the release date for the NHL's 2025-26 schedule. On or around July 15 is a safe bet, with a projected opening night of Oct. 7 for most clubs. The league will go dark for about three weeks (approx Feb. 4-25), the best of the working help headed to Milano-Cortina for the 2026 Winter Games … One of the great headlines here in the Hub of Hockey, 40-plus years ago, read: 'Bruins Get Nill for McNab.'
Jim Nill
(now the Dallas GM) was obtained for longtime Bruins favorite
Peter McNab
. With that in mind, when the Bruins recently added Stars assistant coach
Steve Spott
to Sturm's staff, I was hoping to read, 'See Spott Run' as a headline in one of the Dallas dailies. Not yet. But a man can dream.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at