Jim Montgomery's simple but beautiful pregame speech will warm your soul
BOSTON -- Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery is still relatively new to the Boston sports scene, having arrived just last summer. Yet the the 54-year-old has already made his mark, both for his work behind the bench and for his public moments of pure, honest humanity.
We saw that in June, when Montgomery delivered a memorable speech at the NHL Awards about how his personal struggles with alcohol had affected his life and career. And we caught another glimpse of it in Montgomery's pregame locker room speech this week in Florida.
The Bruins tweeted out the video of Montgomery addressing the team on what was the second leg of a Florida swing where players' dads were accompanying the team on the road trip. After the Bruins lost in OT in Tampa in the first game, Montgomery delivered an important reminder before Wednesday night's game.
"All right, boys. I've been watching you guys hang out with your dads, and I've gotta be honest. I'm a little bit jealous," Montgomery said. "My dad passed away nine years ago. And what a [bleepin'] opportunity for you guys, you know? And whether your dad's in heaven [fist-bumps for David Pastrnak and Linus Ullmark], or [Jakub Lauko], whether he's watching at home on your [bleepin'] sofa, they gave us the names we wear on our back. And they're proud of you guys, as they should be. Now we're all proud to wear that B in front of us, but my dad expected a second and third effort every [bleepin'] night. Let's have a second and third effort tonight."
That's the good stuff.
It obviously wasn't a grandiose speech, and if you let your mind drift for a moment, you might have missed it. But it offered a window into the way that Montgomery connects with every player on that roster. He addressed the larger group, he made sure to include those who weren't fortunate enough to have their fathers along for the ride, and he united them all for their goal that evening by being a little bit vulnerable in front of the men he's in charge of leading. In the macho land of professional sports, that moment of emotional honesty -- however brief it may have been -- opened a door for Montgomery to make a connection with each player gathered around him.
The Bruins then went out and beat the Panthers 3-1, with players fulfilling their postgame media obligations with their fathers standing by their side. One of those fathers -- Louie DeBrusk -- felt a lot of relief seeing his son's team win in Sunrise.
"I think we're happier that they won than they are, because now we know that we can have some fun on the plane on the way home," Louie DeBrusk said. "It was a quiet 37-minute flight down here from Tampa. We want it to be a little noisier on the plane."
The win improved Montgomery's record to a ridiculous 79-13-8 in his first 100 regular-season games as Boston's head coach. The brief speech helped explain at least one way that Montgomery finds ways to motivate his players.
Those players had to put in the work to earn that victory. Yet it all began with that important reminder from the head coach before they even took the ice.
