By Fluto Shinzawa (The Athletic)
On Feb. 23, Don Sweeney traded Craig Smith to the Capitals in a deal for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway. As general manager, it was Sweeney’s job to inform Smith he was an ex-Bruin.
Sweeney, however, was at Warrior Ice Arena. Smith and the Bruins were on the other side of the country, settling into their pregame naps at the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle ahead of their game against the Kraken that night.
Jim Montgomery took charge.
That afternoon, the first-year Bruins coach went to Smith’s room. When Smith opened the door, Montgomery told the 33-year-old right wing of the trade. Montgomery believed a phone call or text would not do to break the news to a respected teammate, even one who had become a spare part.
“That’s just the way we do things here. It’s the Bruins way,” said Montgomery. “We communicate whether we’re giving unfortunate news, like I had to deliver to Smitty, or whether we’re congratulating someone. We like to do stuff face-to-face rather than over the phone. Because I think you can see that true emotion in someone’s face matters.”
Montgomery has installed a system — shot quality over quantity, activation of the weak-side defenseman, quicker closing in the defensive zone, hanging onto pucks to improve offensive looks — that produced the best regular-season team in NHL history.
Perhaps the more critical adjustment Montgomery has introduced, however, is how his relationships with his players has expressed across-the-board improvement. This effect is more pronounced because of how it differs with his predecessor’s direct approach.
“No. No,” Trent Frederic, who scored a career-high 31 points this season, said when asked if he could have submitted similar results under Bruce Cassidy this season. “If we’d kept the same coach, I think it would be the same thing if I’m being dead honest.”
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