Daily News

Claude Julien “absolutely” returning for 10th season

Tim Rosenthal April 14, 2016

The first question on everyone’s minds entering Thursday’s press conference: would Claude Julien be the head coach after a second straight regular season collapse.

That answer was given by the man who evaluated his job, general manager Don Sweeney. Without hesitation, he gave his stamp of approval.

“Absolutely,” said Sweeney. “I emphatically believe that Claude is a coach that can take us through to what I describe as a bumpy transition period this year, and we got work to do.”

Sweeney’s decision means that Julien will embark on his 10th season as Bruins coach when he returns to the bench in 2016-17. It also means that he’s escaped the proverbial hot seat, again.

Twelve months ago, Julien’s status was in question when President Cam Neely relieved former GM Peter Chiarelli of his duties after his nine years in Boston. Julien’s fate would be decided by Chiarelli’s replacement. About a month after Chiarelli’s departure, Sweeney was promoted from assistant GM to his current position. A few weeks after that, Sweeney announced that Julien would return as coach.

Amidst all the noise about Julien’s job security that stems all the way back since the B’s Game 7 collapse against the Flyers in 2010 — and escaping more chatter after Game 7 wins over the Canadiens in 2011 and their epic comeback against the Leafs in 2013 — the former Montreal and New Jersey head coach remains a popular figure in Boston.

The relationship he’s had with Boston and the Bruins organization is a reason why Julien, the winningest coach in franchise history, wanted to return and help the team move forward.

Claude Julien and Don Sweeney meet with the media at TD Garden on Thursday. (Photo by Tim Rosenthal, Bruins Daily)

“I want to be here and I want to bring the team back to where we once had it,” said Julien.

“There’s no doubt, and I’m going to be honest with you, would it had been easier for me to go somewhere else and say ‘oh gees, I’m going to go somewhere fresh and start?’ That’s not what I want. This organization has been good to me, they’ve been loyal to me. Like I’ve said before, I love this city, I love environment here. You want to be somewhere where people are really passionate about the game, and, you know, there’s a lot of people here including players that have helped me become the coach that I am. And I don’t want to be that guy that bails just because you’ve had a bump in the road. I want to be that guy who perseveres.”

Following their loss against the Senators on Saturday, Patrice Bergeron expressed his thoughts about how the Bruins roster failed to execute Julien’s system. Those thoughts, along with their opinions on keeping Claude, were echoed by many of Bergeron’s teammates during their breakup day on Monday.

Seventy-two hours later, they got their wish. With another backer in Sweeney, Claude is here to stay.

“It’s important. That’s what makes you want to come back and that’s what makes you want to be here,” Julien said about the support from his players. “I think if the players weren’t responding and the general manager didn’t have the confidence in you, [then] you wouldn’t want to be here.”

“I think its accurate that they wouldn’t want to stand in front of each and every one of you [the media] if that’s something they didn’t think they would believe in,” Sweeney added about the players backing Claude. “Again, that speaks to Claude that, in our discussions, had been honest to say that ‘I don’t think I’ve lost the voice in that room.’ And some people might inherently believe that over a course of time that’s only going to happen, and it hasn’t happened.”

In an important off-season for Sweeney, two things have already happened. The first is announcing Julien’s return. The second was the announcement that the Bruins have parted ways with assistant coach Doug Houda. The only assistant under contract for next season is goaltending coach Bob Essenssa.

Sweeney stressed that the team is not in need in a major overhaul. Improvements, however, do need to be made, particularly on the blue-line. Otherwise, Julien, and maybe Sweeney, might not be around much longer to see things play out.