The Boston Bruins have moved on from interim coach Joe Sacco after a season that saw them finish in the bottom five of the NHL. Earlier this week, they announced the hiring of former Bruins player Marco Sturm as the team’s new head coach. At best, this will mark the beginning of a new era in Boston, one in which the team will go back to its ways of being a perennial contender in the Eastern Conference. At worst, this will mark the end of the Don Sweeney and Cam Neely era in Boston. Before moving behind the bench, Sturm had a notable playing career; let’s take a look back at what he was able to accomplish in nearly 15 years of play in the NHL.
Early Years
Sturm played for his home country Germany’s EV Landshut from 1995-1997, being selected by the San Jose Sharks with the 21st overall pick of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. After putting up nearly a point per game in his final campaign in Germany, Sturm joined the Sharks for his rookie season in 1997-98. He scored his first goal, a game-winner, in his first NHL game, going on to put up a solid 30 points over the course of his rookie season.
Several of Sturm’s best seasons came during his time in San Jose, where he played for nearly a decade. For three consecutive seasons from 2001 until 2004, Sturm put up more than 20 goals and north of 40 points. He returned home to Germany during the lockout in 2004-05, putting up 38 points in 45 games for Ingolstadt. When the NHL started back up in 2005-06, Sturm got off to the hottest start of his career, with 16 points in 23 games for the Sharks. Then, on Nov. 30, 2025, he was traded as part of the infamous Joe Thornton trade. The Bruins sent Thornton to San Jose in return for Sturm, forward Wayne Primeau, and defenseman Brad Stuart. Thornton would go on to play 17 more years in the NHL, 15 of which were with the Sharks.
Bruins and Beyond
Sturm made an immediate impact with his new team, finishing the season with 29 goals. While he was playing some of the best hockey of his career, the Bruins struggled in his first two seasons with the team, missing the playoffs in each. That changed in 2007-08. Sturm led the Bruins in goals during that campaign, and he tallied a career-high 56 points, leading the Bruins to the playoffs. His most memorable moment in black and gold came during that postseason, when he lifted a game-winning goal off a rebound over an outstretched Carey Price with three minutes to go in Game 6. The Bruins would go on to lose the deciding Game 7 in that series, however, Sturm had etched himself in the memories of the Bruins faithful.
Sturm’s ensuing seasons were defined by injury. He played just 19 games in the 2008-09 campaign, which saw him dealing with a concussion and injuries to his knee. He helped the Bruins to a playoff berth in 2009-10 with 37 points in 76 games, leading the Bruins in goals along the way, though he re-injured his knee in the first game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, which ended his campaign. Sturm was never able to find his footing again in the NHL, logging brief stints with the Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, and Florida Panthers.
Coaching Prospect
Sturm began coaching the German national team in 2015, leading them to a silver medal at the 2018 Olympics. Following those games, he joined the Kings as an assistant, coaching there for four years before being named the head coach of their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The Reign have made the playoffs in three consecutive years under his watch.
Though it is his first time heading an NHL team, Sturm has shown a lot of potential as a head coach during his time with Germany and the Reign. On top of that, he is someone who knows what it takes to have success in the NHL and is a familiar face in Boston. Bruins fans should be excited for what is to come under the new face behind their bench, particularly given that the team has money to spend in free agency.
