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Bruins Assistant Coach Geoff Ward Resigns

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Bruins have a big hole to fill on their bench.

Bruins Assistant Coach Geoff Ward has resigned and will head to Germany for a head coaching job, GM Peter Chiarelli announced on Thursday.

Ward was a vital part to Claude Julien's coaching staff, spending seven seasons with the black and gold. He joined Julien's staff back in 2007 after spending 12 years in the OHL (Kitchener & Guelph) and AHL (Hamilton Bulldogs), in addition to two previous head coaching stints in Germany. He was the AHL Coach of the Year back in 2003, and ran Boston's practices during the recent Winter Olympic break as Julien was on the bench for Team Canada in Sochi.

Ward, who was a member of Julien's coaching staff when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011, will now become the head coach of the Mannheim Eagles of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany.

This isn't the first loss for the Boston brass this off-season. In May, Boston assistant GM Jim Benning left the team to become the general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

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