Boston Bruins’ Revival: How Marco Sturm’s Culture Shift is Making Waves

It has been a long time since the Boston Bruins appeared to be a cohesive team, as the last couple of years have been an up-and-down mess since Patrice Bergeron's retirement. The retirements of Bergeron and David Krejci left behind a culture that the pair helped build alongside Zdeno Chara, and it was up to Brad Marchand to carry it on by himself as the last player remaining from that legendary core.

I'm not here to say that Marchand failed to carry it forward, but it isn't easy to do when he is the lone remaining player and he and the front office/coaching staff aren't on the same page. There was a strange vibe around the team over those two bridge years, and the firing of Jim Montgomery and trade of Marchand felt like an attempt for the front office to turn the page.

One of the more savvy moves was hiring Marco Sturm to be the team's new head coach. He was a forgotten member of the group that built the Bruins' culture, which shaped them throughout the entire 2010s. Ever since his first press conference, Sturm has been talking about bringing it back. It's only early in his tenure, but it appears the new head coach is already having some success.

Bruins' team-first attitude will serve them well going forward

The first indication that the Bruins' culture is starting to return is other team's fanbases feeling threatened by what they are building. Toronto Maple Leafs fans were not happy about the two-game sweep by the Bruins last week, and the entire team piling off the bench for David Pastrnak's 400th goal sent shockwaves through Leafs Nation on social media.

It wasn't just Leafs diehards who didn't like the show of team chemistry from the Bruins. It was also members of Canadian media that questioned if a 400th goal was worthy of a group celebration. I can't imagine a team like the Leafs doing it for one of their players, but that says a lot about their locker room.

While I didn't find it too surprising that the Bruins did that for their superstar against the Maple Leafs, it was the team's act against the Ottawa Senators that made me really start thinking that the team was coming together as a unit.

Tanner Jeannot picked a fight with Kurtis MacDermid, and despite both being fighters, it was a bout where Jeannot was significantly outmatched physically. He held his own and didn't back down, which his teammates respected more than if he had won the fight against someone smaller; it led to something we don't often see.

It's normal to see a teammate pick up the fighter's equipment and deliver it to them in the penalty box. However, what wasn't normal was nearly every player leaving the bench to come over and give Jeannot props during the commercial break. There was a single-file line waiting to meet Jeannot, which lasted for about 30-45 seconds.

It has to feel great for Sturm that the culture he set out to change already looks different, not even a quarter into the season. If it continues this way, the head coach will have a long and successful first tenure as head coach.