“We need all the players — and there will be a lot of opportunities.”
Marco Sturm is set to run his first training camp as Bruins head coach later this month. AP Photo/Mary Schwalm
HANOVER, Mass. — Marco Sturm only has a few more weeks to go before he can conduct his first full-squad practice with the Bruins at Warrior Ice Arena.
For the first-year bench boss, Sept. 17 can’t come soon enough.
“Now it becomes real. You feel it. Players are coming in. They’re skating. They’re stopping by at the office. So that’s what it’s all about,” Sturm said Friday at the Bruins’ fan-fest event in Hanover. “You’re probably getting sick of me just talking. For me personally, I just want to work.”
After months of anticipation and prep work, Sturm and his coaching staff are looking forward to getting back on the frozen sheet and helping right the ship for a retooling Bruins roster than went 33-39-10 last season.
So far, Sturm hasn’t tipped his hand as far as the added wrinkles, system tweaks, and lineup reshuffles in place that he hopes will lead to stronger results for his club this winter.
But, before the X’s and O’s can be implemented and the depth chart augmented, Sturm is already set to instill a new set of principles for a Bruins team that might have to rely more on effort than outright skill in order to re-assert themselves as a club on the rise in the Eastern Conference.
For Sturm, some of the key messages shared during the upcoming three-week training camp will revolve around intensity, accountability, and setting a new standard at the practice rink.
“I think that will feel my energy, they will feel the coaching staff’s excitement and energy as well, right from day one,” Sturm said of what’s in store for his players. “They want to practice, and that’s where we’re going for. We have a lot of work to do with schedule this year.
“It’s challenging for everyone with the Olympic year coming up. So it’s going to be a lot of games in a short amount of time. And that means we need all of them. We need all the players — and there will be a lot of opportunities. So it’s a good challenge for a lot of kids. So that’ll be nice to see.”
Sturm’s history of delivering a candid and demanding message seems to be welcomed in a dressing room filled with players looking to atone for last year’s missteps.
“He had Darryl Sutter his first [three] years in the league, and Darryl Sutter was my favorite coach I ever had in my life,” Nikita Zadorov said of Sturm last week. “So I feel like we have a lot of mutual interest in that. I like old-school coaches. I like direct coaches. I like hard coaches, not afraid to take the heat from them when I deserve it, so long as you tell it to my face, so long as you are fair with me.”
For Sturm, that ability to communicate frankly wth players — both seasoned veterans and younger players tying to find their footing at hockey’s highest level — stands as one of his greatest strengths as he takes the reins of an Original Six franchise.
“The guys who know me, that’s who I am, and you know that’s what I learned from my best coaches,” Sturm said of his communication style. “We’ve talked about being direct and being honest and having an open relationship — even if you don’t like it. A
“And again, there will be some tough times, for sure, this year. But that’s I think that’s what brings teams and players and players and coaches together.”
It will take some time for both Sturm and the Bruins to get a full grasp of the squad they have in place for the 2025 season.
But, even after last year’s sizable step back, Sturm believes the Bruins have plenty of upside already in place — especially if the team regains its form both on defense and the power play.
A bounce-back season from Jeremy Swayman (.892 save percentage) and a D corps that played a majority of last season without Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm would reverse Boston’s fortunes, while the Bruins aren’t banking on another year where the team’s power play ranks 29th in the league with a 15.2 percent success rate.
“Going back to our identity, playing good defense, that’s our biggest thing,” Sturm said. “But also we want to score some goals. We’re pretty good defensively, I think, if you look at the roster. Offensively, yeah, no, we need everyone, and that includes our special teams. …Power play for sure has to step up.
“And then somehow, I always say you have to meet in the middle. So if you do that and meet in the middle, I think we’re definitely in a better spot.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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