Gresh & Zo: 'Smart Move' For Bruins To Lock Up Julien
BOSTON (CBS) - The Bruins announced on Sunday they've extended the contract of head coach Claude Julien.
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed at this time, although it's believed to be a three-year deal. Julien's contract was reportedly up at the end of the season.
Now in his eighth season with the Bruins, Julien has led them to seven consecutive playoff appearances, including two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals -- one of those trips resulted in a Cup win in the 2010-11 season. Julien also boasts a winning percentage of .632 in the regular season.
Despite the success, Julien certainly has his detractors in the media, and even with the fans for his style of coaching and system. But 98.5 The Sports Hub's Andy Gresh and Scott Zolak explained Wednesday morning why the extension is a good move for the B's.
"I look at it as a smart move for the Bruins. If his deal was to run out then maybe you're talking about getting into some silly money for Claude," said Gresh, hinting to the fact that the price could always go up. "He doesn't seem to be the kind of guy that complains. He's not someone that's always looking for the next angle, the new contract or more power. He's just a guy that wants to come to the rink, coach hockey, talk about his team -- not about himself -- and go about his business."
Gresh also notes that in a sport where head coaches enter and exit jobs through a revolving door, Julien has stayed the course and guided the ship better than just about everyone.
"His winning percentage with the Bruins is .632. Only Mike Babcock [Detroit] has had a longer tenure with his team," said Gresh. "That's a sport where you have transients at the head coaching spot."
As we've seen with the Patriots and other teams in this city, the key to success often starts with organizational stability.
"One of the things I think they like is they have Cam Neely at the top, Peter Chiarelli at general manager and Claude at coach," said Zolak. "Unless you just hate his style, and you hate the rolling of the four lines, tell me what you detest about this head coach. He's a steady guy. They've got [Neely] at the top that leads by example, and like I said you've got Chiarelli and Claude at the core of it all. They're contending, by the way. They're not cellar dwellers."
"[The contract extension] is a way for [owner] Jeremy Jacobs to make sure things don't get out of whack, and you don't have some other team unnecessarily drive up the price," Gresh concluded.
Listen below for the full discussion!
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