Bruins Laud Julien's Impact Ahead of His Return

BOSTON - Brad Marchand knows he was not always the easiest person to deal with when he first entered the league. As a young player, there were plenty of times he needed to be reeled in as he tried to establish himself.
That's where Claude Julien came in.
"He gave me an opportunity to play, dealt with me more than I think a lot of coaches would have, worked with me tirelessly," Marchand said of the former Bruins coach. "Had plenty of conversations about how to act and how to be a good player, a good pro, how to learn the game and become a better player.
"He definitely gave me a huge opportunity and allowed me to grow into a better player."

Across the Bruins dressing room, players shared similar stories regarding the impact Julien had on their careers. And that's why it is sure to be a special moment when Julien - the Bruins' all-time winningest coach - returns to Boston for the first time on Wednesday night when the B's host his Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden.
"He's the one that I was given the opportunity to play in the NHL," said David Pastrnak. "We had a bunch of meetings in the time I was here…obviously have a lot of good memories. He spent so much time with this organization and has given a lot."

Marchand credited Julien with helping him to become more of a dependable offensive force every night. The 29-year-old began his career in as a fourth-line grinder and has since blossomed into a two-time All-Star, who is well on his way to a third straight 35-goal season.
"You could go through a lot of different things, but the biggest thing he preached to me was how to be a good pro and how to be consistent," said Marchand. "That's one thing we talked about is consistency. And if you want to be in this league for a long time you have to be able to bring your best game every night or close to it. That was probably one of the biggest things I took away."
Julien won 419 games over 10 seasons with Boston, twice leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final, including the club's first title in 39 years in 2011. Overall, the Bruins made the playoffs seven times under Julien and captured the Presidents' Trophy in 2014.
The Ontario native also won the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL's coach of the year in 2009 and twice coached at the NHL All-Star Game during his time in Boston.
"He was here for a long time, did a lot of great things for this team, for the organization, for the community and for the fans," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who played under Julien for 10 seasons.
"He definitely should be recognized for that…he's a great coach, a great person, taught me a lot about how to play the game the right way in certain situations. He's just a great teacher."

For Boston's remaining championship core - which includes Marchand, Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tuukka Rask, and Adam McQuaid - it will no doubt be a bit strange to see their former boss standing behind the visiting bench on Wednesday night.
"I'm sure there is going to be some emotion for them," said current Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who replaced Julien last February. "They won a Stanley Cup under Claude - there should be. I think there was a bit of that in Montreal in terms of the first time looking across the bench and seeing him behind a different group, and I would imagine there would be a little more tomorrow. Then, the game will kind of take care of itself, and off we go.
"There's some great relationships developed between Claude with the guys that have played with him for a length of time, so you don't forget about that."
Cassidy, who was an assistant under Julien last season before taking over the reins, acknowledged that some of his predecessor's philosophies remain in place, particularly on the defensive side of things.
"The biggest was probably the layers and D-zone," said Cassidy. "I think there's a lot of teams that go man-to-man nowadays in the NHL in D-zone. We haven't changed, and we feel it's worked very well for us to stay with our layers and our zone coverage. I would say that is probably the biggest thing because it has worked."