Head coaches around the league truly appreciate Monty as a person and struggle to understand what happened in Boston. Their reactions down below:

On Tuesday, the Boston Bruins fired coach Jim Montgomery after stumbling to a losing record in their first 20 games. The team is now off to an 8-9-3 start (.475 points percentage) and outside of a playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, but Montgomery’s firing came as a shock to many. Including current NHL coaches around the NHL.

Montgomery is the third head coach Bruins’ Don Sweeney has fired as general manager. After letting go of Claude Julien in 2017, Sweeney fired Bruce Cassidy after the 2022 playoffs and won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights the following season.

On Wednesday, Cassidy spoke about Montgomery losing his job in Boston and how he knew exactly how he felt. He spoke about the former head coach having to move his young family and how the two texted one another today, per Lance Hornby.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube also talked about Montgomery losing his job ahead of tonight’s game against Vegas, calling it “personal” for himself as Monty was once a Blues assistant.

“It’s upsetting, and we brought Monty into St. Louis to work with us for a couple of years, and he was fantastic,” Berube shared. “You know, I feel for coaches, and it’s a tough business. It is. This one’s more personal for me.”

I mean the Bruins fired a guy with a 120-41-23 record during his tenure in Boston. His firing came a day after Boston was thoroughly outplayed at home during a 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets. Columbus is tied for the third-fewest points in the NHL.

But one thing is clear for fans and even current NHL coaches : Montgomery took the fall for an underperforming Bruins team.