LAS VEGAS – Jim Montgomery and Bill Belichick coach very different sports.
And the Bruins bench boss has only been on the job in Boston for two of the 24 years that Belichick has been in New England.
That did not, however, stop the two from quickly forming a bond when Montgomery arrived in Boston two summers ago.
As such, Montgomery made sure to begin his pregame media availability by offering his respect to Belichick, who mutually parted ways with New England on Thursday after a legendary run that included six Super Bowl titles.
"I want to start off by congratulating Coach Belichick for a tremendous 24-year run with the New England Patriots and the incredible success that’s never been seen before in the NFL,” said Montgomery. “And how he has impacted coaches…I think it goes across every sport. You study other coaches and how they handle players, the team, and the difference between the motivational and the structure, X’s and O’s so to speak, obviously he’s a master at all and someone I’m very lucky to have spent time with.”
Boston’s bench boss was able to spend some time with Belichick on multiple occasions over his two seasons with the Bruins and learned some valuable lessons from his football counterpart.
“I just asked a lot of questions, was just trying to soak in knowledge,” said Montgomery. “He was an open book and he was great about it and how he handles situations, players, role players, star players. And also just picking his brain on matchups and how he thinks and what’s important in those situations.”
