Jim Montgomery enters a new era Monday night when he leads the St. Louis Blues against the New York Rangers just six days after the Boston Bruins relieved him of his head coaching duties.
While there’s several new aspects Montgomery can take with a new lineup to manage, the bench boss hopes to call upon his experience elevating star players with the Bruins.
“I think no question,” Montgomery told reporters Monday, per team-provided video. “The guys in Boston are such respected, high-end players in the league. It’s not going to be a comparison things. It’s going to be, ‘This is what I learned from them. This is what I can impart on you.'”
Montgomery continued: “When you get a chance to work with guys like Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak (and) McAvoy daily and you see the culture there, it’s something that has made me better. I’m going to impart that and use that and put it part of our fiber here to make things better for us and our culture and how we go about our standards of excellence.”
Montgomery looks for his ninth overall win of the season after eight with the Bruins in his Blues debut against the Rangers. Puck drop for Monday night is set for 7 p.m. ET.