Before Brad Marchand was Patrice Bergeron’s sidekick, there was Marco Sturm.
After the big Joe Thornton trade that brought Sturm – named the Bruins’ new head coach on Thursday – to Boston, Bergeron was moved to his natural center position and Sturm eventually found his way to the future captain’s left wing.
And Sturm and Bergeron will be forever linked by the goal on which they combined at Fenway Park in 2010, Sturm’s overtime winner over the Flyers that continued to build momentum for the franchise that was just regaining its profile among all the local franchises that had already won championships in the previous decade. Sturm had already scored a huge game-winning goal in Game 6 of the Bruins’ series against Montreal in 2008 that put the B’s back on the map, even though they were ultimately beaten that year in Game 7.
“That was a huge goal,” said Bergeron, who was out with what was a season-ending concussion. “He always had a knack for scoring those goals. He scored that goal at Fenway as well. Yes, it was a regular season game but, let’s be honest, it was more than just a regular season game for us. It was special. It was our first outdoor game and it was the beginning of all those classics. Scoring in overtime at Fenway was also very special and I have great memories for that. He always found a way of stepping up at the right moment and I do remember that Game 6. And again, it was that celebration, that emotion. That’s what sticks out in my mind the most.”
Bergeron can’t say that he had always pegged Sturm as a future coach, but he’s followed his career and he believes the Bruins have found the right man for the job.
“It’s always hard to know who’s going to be a coach down the road or not. But then I always saw the love of the game, the energy, I always saw the leadership in him and his ability to bring guys together just by who he was as a person,” said Bergeron. “He obviously understood the game really well and had a knack for just staying composed when it was needed, basically. When it was a little harder or when things didn’t turn out the way we expected them to, we could rely on him to calm everything down by his demeanor. To me, it speaks a lot about a good quality for a coach. I’m really excited for him. I couldn’t think of a better candidate for the Bruins.”
Coming into the league as an 18-year-old, Bergeron had a lot of mentors in the B’s organization early in his career. Sturm, who played for the B’s from 2005-10, was an important one.
“Obviously, Marco had an impact in my career early on when I was at a young age, playing with him when I was 20 years old,” said Bergeron. “For me, it was really important in creating connections but also learning from the older guys, and he was one of them that came in and helped me a lot. I had a lot of fun playing with him, so we stayed in touch all over the years, even though we didn’t play together as long as we would have liked. We stayed in touch and I always followed his career and stayed in touch in terms of how our families were doing. For him as coach I followed his career ever since he was at the Olympics behind the German bench. It’s been a great journey for him and this is great news and I’m happy that he gets rewarded.”
To those of us on the outside looking in, the situation that Sturm walked into when he arrived in Boston appeared to be extremely difficult. He came here as part of a package from San Jose for popular superstar Thornton, who would win the Hart Trophy in that season of the trade with the Sharks.
But if life in Boston at first was hard for Sturm, he didn’t show it.
“For me, I didn’t really see it,” said Bergeron. “He seemed happy to be with the Bruins. I think it was out of his control, to be honest with you. He was the one that got traded here, yes, but he was a big part of that trade and he gave us some really good years and scored some big goals for us. I’ve always admired his energy and the way he is as a person. He’s always smiling, he’s always looking at the glass half-full and to me as a coach, that’s a big quality to have.”
It’s a positivity that the B’s will need. They do possess one of the stars of the league in David Pastrnak and some star power on the back end with Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. But he’ll also be charged with incorporating some young players into the lineup.
“I think it’s a challenge he’s up for,” said Bergeron. “You look at a coach that’s been around the American league, he’s been an assistant coach (in the NHL) as well. He’s a guy that’s able to develop and he’s been there. And he’s been through it himself as a player. He’s got lots of experience to bring it back and teach those guys and to be able to relate to them.”
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