BOSTON — Jim Montgomery cut off the question mid-stream.

“Jim, when you get let go like you did last year...”

“I got fired, ” Montgomery said, smiling. “Call it what it is.”

Montgomery wasn’t being flippant or angry. He just chose not to euphemize what happened. The 2024-25 Bruins had high expectations and they weren’t meeting them early and he took the fall. He wasn’t let go. They didn’t part ways. He wasn’t relieved of duties.

He was fired.

Like most fired coaches, Montgomery didn’t speak to the Boston media before he left. Thursday was his first time playing in Boston in the over a year since he was fired. Meeting with the media meant reliving something unpleasant that he’s moved past.

There are a lot of coaches who would have given short answers while pivoting everything to

See Full Page