Marco Sturm sensationally won Olympic silver as national coach with Germany in 2018. But now he has achieved a real coup as a coach. The 47-year-old is head coach of the Boston Bruins – the first German to do so. And he started with two wins.
When attacker Fraser Minten flicks the puck into the opponent’s goal in the third minute of overtime for the Boston Bruins’ 4-3 home win against the Chicago Blackhawks, the 17,850 fans in the TD Garden jump from their seats and the host players hug each other. Marco Sturm, on the other hand, stays cool.
After the 3-1 away win at the start of the season against the Washington Capitals, he had just won the second competitive game of his NHL head coaching career – within just 27 hours. Nevertheless, the Bavarian shows no emotion.
A casual handshake with his assistant coaches Jay Leach and Steve Spott on the Bruins bench – then he disappears into the catacombs. The season is just long, says the 47-year-old half an hour later in an exclusive interview with Sportschau. Sturm stands in a small room in the arena, white shirt, gold tie, dark pants.
Behind him, the statistics from the 4-3 win shine on a screen. He’s a coach.”“I’ve been there for a few years now”so he knows about them “Ups and downs.“And that’s why his reaction was “rather less emotional today” been, but that could happen “change again tomorrow”, so storm.
Dingolfing – small place on a big stage
Two games, two wins – and that as a rookie head coach, that’s ““Of course an optimal start”says the Dingolfing native happily. The small town of 20,000 inhabitants in Lower Bavaria was already mentioned on Wednesday evening when the game between Washington and Boston was broadcast on the TV channel “TNT”. Because it was from Dingolfing that Marco Johann Sturm made it into the NHL – once as a player and now as head coach.
He has now realized that he is writing German sports history. Sturm has been asked more often in the past few days what it means to him to not only be the first German head coach in the NHL, but also in all four major North American professional leagues? There had never been a head coach from Germany in the National Football League, the NBA basketball league and Major League Baseball.
Sturm is only the fourth NHL head coach from Europe
“To be honest, I don’t even think about it, but when I get questions about it or read it, it obviously makes me very, very proud.”emphasizes Sturm. He knew very well that it was “not normal as a European or as a German” was to become a head coach in the best ice hockey league in the world. Because these positions are usually only given to Canadians and Americans.
The NHL was founded in 1917. Since then, in the 2000/01 season, the Finn Alpo Suhonen at the Chicago Blackhawks, and at the same time the Czech Ivan Hlinka at the Pittsburgh Penguins, had received the trust of their club superiors. Last season, the Blackhawks also promoted Anders Sörensen from Sweden to interim head coach for the second half of the season. Three European head coaches in more than 100 years. In a league in which more than a third of the professionals now come from Scandinavia, Russia, the Czech Republic, Germany or even Slovenia and Norway.
“Outstanding for German ice hockey”
After the Olympics, he received calls from the NHL and ultimately accepted the offer from the LA Kings in the fall of 2018. And after all his years there, Germany’s NHL record player (1006 games) felt ready for the next step in his coaching career in the spring – and signed with the Boston Bruins. Although they had set league records for the most wins (65) and points (135) in the main round in the 2023/24 season, they ended the previous season with the worst club record in the league cellar in 20 years.
A new beginning is needed – with an old acquaintance. Because Sturm had already stormed for America’s oldest NHL club from 2005 to 2010. The fact that he is now a coach there is “outstanding for German ice hockey”, finds Leon Draisaitl. For many years he has been the personified advertising drum for ice hockey “Made in Germany” with his performances in the Edmonton Oilers jersey.
Form unity and Bruins hockey let play
But from now on Sturm is also under special observation. He is currently ignoring the results and table. On the one hand, there are 80 more games in the main round until mid-April. On the other hand, it’s about him “Now it’s not about points or reaching the playoffs”he emphasizes. It is his priority “to start something new here in Boston.” He wants to lift up the fallen brown bears, give them an identity and self-confidence again, and make them the feared address they were for many decades.
“The opponents should mark the games against us in their calendar because they know that it will hurt”team president Cam Neely said before the start of the season. Sturm puts it a little more diplomatically, but goes in the same direction. The team should “become a unit again” and “Play Boston Bruins hockey.” What is meant is a physical, defensive game in which you move forward quickly when in possession of the disc.
Sturm took the first small steps on this long journey and the Bruins fans went home satisfied on Thursday evening. And they will be back on Saturday for the home game against the Buffalo Sabers – to see the next appearance of their German debutant on the Bruins bench.