Sturm's hiring as Bruins coach 'great and cool story' for German hockey

Former NHL players from Germany couldn't say enough about the Boston Bruins' hiring of countryman Marco Sturm as coach Thursday.

The 46-year-old, who played for the Bruins from 2005-10, will be the first Germany-born head coach in the NHL and replaces Joe Sacco, who was named interim coach after Jim Montgomery was fired Nov. 19.

"It's a great and cool story for Marco that he's managed to get through this tough business and is now the coach of an Original Six team that he himself played for," said Dennis Seidenberg, a defenseman who played 15 NHL seasons from 2002-18, including seven with the Bruins from 2009-16. "It shows what an incredible person he is.

"Marco has worked hard to develop as a coach ... Personally, you can't find anyone better anyway. I can only congratulate the Bruins for making the right decision in choosing Marco as their new head coach."

Sturm was coach of the Los Angeles Kings' American Hockey League affiliate in Ontario, California, the past three seasons, going 119-80-17, guiding the team to the Calder Cup Playoffs in all three seasons. Before that, he was a Kings assistant from 2018-22. He coached Germany's national team from 2015-18, a tenure highlighted by winning a silver medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

"I congratulate Marco on this," said Uwe Krupp, a defenseman who played 15 NHL seasons with five teams from 1986-2003 and scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal for the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. "It's an incredible achievement and Marco has worked very hard to get there. He made the right decisions in the past by stepping down as national coach at the right time to work with the Los Angeles Kings. That was certainly not an easy decision. But he's been with the Kings for seven years now, first as an assistant coach and then as head coach of the farm team. He went through his apprenticeship years, which you need to be a successful coach, especially at the highest level in the NHL. You need that to get the job he's got now.

"His generation, the guys he played with, are now in management, and it's also about who you know and who knows you. It's a great combination, and I'm really happy for him. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for him to succeed. Here in Landshut anyway, since he's from here. It's a huge deal. But it's also another accolade for German ice hockey as a whole."

Sturm also won a Deutschland Cup title in 2015 and guided Germany to the quarterfinals of the 2016 and '17 IIHF World Championship.

"Marco is an incredibly respected person in the NHL," said Stefan Ustorf, a forward who played two seasons with the Washington Capitals from 1995-97. "He’s done his job, he was an assistant coach in the NHL for four years with a successful club, he made the move back to the American Hockey League to learn as a head coach ... He's very good at evaluating himself and knows what he needs to develop. He has done that. He's just a great person who has earned this opportunity. He's spent his time learning. He's ready.“

As a player, Sturm had 487 points (242 goals, 245 assists) in 938 NHL games over 14 seasons as a forward with the San Jose Sharks, Bruins, Kings, Capitals, Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers.

In 302 games with Boston, Sturm had 193 points (106 goals, 87 assists).

"He knows the organization in Boston and knows what it's like there, how everything works," said Jochen Hecht, who played 14 NHL seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres from 1999-2013. "After all, he played there for years. His goal was always to become a head coach in the NHL. I'm excited to see what kind of impact he can make with the Bruins, who may go for a rebuild.“

Sturm skated for Germany at the Olympics in 1998, 2002 and 2010, the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, four IIHF World Championships (1997, 2001, 2004, 2008) and twice at the IIHF World Junior Championship (1995, '96).

"We are delighted with the news that has reached us from Boston," German national team general manager Christian Kunast said. "Marco had a great influence on the development of German hockey during his time as national coach. Marco is largely responsible for changing the mindset in the German national team to a team that believes in itself. This was the basis for our joint silver medal success in 2018 and has continued after his tenure. We wish Marco every success with the Bruins."

Germany-born players have had a growing influence on the NHL; seven played in the League this season, led by Oilers center Leon Draisaitl, whose 52 goals led the NHL. Draisaitl's goal at 19:29 of overtime gave Edmonton a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday; Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX). Draisaitl is second among scorers in the playoffs with 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 27 games.

Other current NHL players from Germany include Ottawa Senators center Tim Stutzle, Sabres forward JJ Peterka, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider, Chicago Blackhawks forward Lukas Reichel, Panthers forward Nico Sturm (no relation to Marco Sturm) and Seattle Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer.

NHL.com/de independent correspondent Christian Rupp contributed to this report