NASHVILLE -- For Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins, winning the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year at the 2023 NHL Awards was about much more than their historic regular season on the ice.
It was personal.
Montgomery said the hockey accomplishment had extra meaning after he overcame struggles with alcohol abuse to get another chance to coach in the NHL.
"For those who struggle out there, you can change," Montgomery said in his emotional speech on the stage at Bridgestone Arena on Monday. "You can affect change within yourself, and it doesn't happen alone. You need a team and a community. … And I cannot do it without my family."
Montgomery was fired by the Dallas Stars on Dec. 10, 2019, in his second season, and their general manager Jim Nill said the coach was relieved of his duties for "unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Stars and National Hockey League." Soon afterward, Montgomery checked into an inpatient rehab center for alcohol abuse, followed by outpatient treatment.
After recovering, Montgomery returned to coaching when he was hired by the St. Louis Blues as an assistant coach on Sept. 16, 2020. Montgomery was then hired to replace Bruce Cassidy as the Bruins coach on June 30, 2022 before guiding them to the most wins (65) and points (135) in a single season in NHL history during his first season with Boston.
"There is a little disbelief, especially if you think back to my darkest hour, three and a half years ago, for sure there is," Montgomery said after the awards show. "I didn't know if I'd ever coach again, never mind this League, any league. … Personally, being able to have this second chance opportunity … it's an attitude of gratitude."
Montgomery went on to thank his wife, four children, his 91-year-old mother watching from home in Montreal, the rest of his large family, the Blues organization and mentioned many other members of his support system with his various nicknames of people who helped him turn his life around.
"For me, it hits home a little bit more because I've had it in my family as well," Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark said of Montgomery's struggles with alcoholism. "[Montgomery] is very open about it, which makes you trust him. For me to trust him and he can trust us, you build that relationship and connection towards each other that is so important to a team environment - that I really appreciate."
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
1x
Chapters
descriptions off, selected
captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
captions off, selected
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
End of dialog window.
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
Montgomery talks Adams Award, Bruins historic season
The 53-year-old is the fifth Bruins coach to win the award and first since Cassidy in 2019-20.
Boston won the Presidents' Trophy for the NHL's best record (65-12-5) this regular season before losing to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in seven games. Boston had an NHL-record 14-game home winning streak from the start of the season and five winning streaks of at least seven games. The Bruins also became the fourth team in the modern era (since 1943-44) to lead a division all season.
"It's such a dedicated group and it was so much fun," Montgomery said. "It's like going to Disney World every day because there was a different ride, a different person that was pushing the gas to success."
Montgomery received 79 of the 81 first-place votes for a total of 404 points. Lindy Ruff of the New Jersey Devils was the runner-up with 127 points; Dave Hakstol of the Seattle Kraken finished third with 73 points in voting for the Adams Award, which was voted by members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association prior to the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.; Ruff and Hakstol each received one first-place vote.
Earlier in the night, Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie, and Bruins center Patrice Bergeron won the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward for the sixth time. Forward David Pastrnak was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player and also the Ted Lindsay Award voted most outstanding player by the NHL Players' Association.
"You can always tell when a coach wins an award because he has a great speech, and they know how to do it," Pastrnak said of Montgomery. "But obviously, Monty: well-deserved. I'm very happy for him and his family."
NHL.com staff writer David Satriano contributed to this report
This website uses online tracking technologies such as cookies to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, save your preferences, and to enable personalized advertising on and off NHL.com, as described further in the Cookie Policy. To learn more and to manage your preferences, visit Cookie Settings. By continuing to access and use our sites and services, you accept and agree to ourTerms of Service.
Cookie Preference Center
Your Privacy
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Functional Cookies
Performance Cookies
Targeting and Advertising Cookies
Your Privacy
When you visit our website, we and our service providers and partners may use cookies and pixels (also known as web beacons) (collectively, “cookies”) to collect and use information for the purposes of delivering the website experience, understanding how visitors interact with our site and personalizing our advertising. This information might be about you, your preferences, or your device. For relevant sites, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies that are set by us and certain third parties that provide analytics, functionality, and advertising.
Click on the different category headings to find out more and change the default settings, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience and the services you receive through relevant sites. These cookie choices do not impact any cookies used by sites operated by third parties, such as the NHL Shop which is operated by Fanatics. In addition, these choices will be specific to the device and browser you are using.
Please review our Cookie Policy for information about our privacy practices and additional choices available to you.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary or essential for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalized content.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to measure metrics like visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. For example, they help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site.
Targeting and Advertising Cookies
These cookies collect information about your online interactions in order to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads on third-party sites, including on social media services. If you opt-out of these cookies, you will still receive ads but they may be less personalized.