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Joe Sacco Interviewing To Become Sharks Head Coach

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Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins may be looking for two assistant head coaches by the end of the upcoming week.

Boston Hockey Now has confirmed via an NHL source close to Joe Sacco, that the longtime Boston Bruins assistant coach will interview for the open head coach post with the San Jose Sharks this coming week.

There is a Boston University connection between Sacco and new San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier: Sacco played at BU from 1987-90, Grier from 1993-96. Both are also Massachusetts natives with Grier growing up in Holliston and Sacco in Medford as part of the proud Sacco hockey family.

Joe Sacco has been an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins since 2014. Previously, he was head coach of the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-13 as well as an assistant with the Buffalo Sabres for a season (2013-14) before returning home to join the Bruins staff when Claude Julien was the bench boss for the Boston Bruins.

Sacco recently interviewed to become head coach of the Boston Bruins before they hired Jim Montgomery. He also played with David Quinn, another BU alum who has also been connected with the Sharks’ head coach position and also interviewed to become bench boss in Boston. Most recently, Quinn helmed the New York Rangers from 2018-21.

San Jose Hockey Now, who collaborated with Boston Hockey Now on this story, is digging into other Sharks coaching candidates. One thing we know, this won’t be a protracted search like the San Jose Sharks’ GM search, which lasted about two months. Grier recently told San Jose Barracuda announcer Nick Nollenberger during Sharks development camp prospects scrimmage on Thursday night:

“We have to get through the interviews and coach search, hopefully we can wrap that up in the next week to 10 days.”

If Sacco is hired, that means that Montgomery and Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney will be looking for two assistant coaches. Longtime Bruce Cassidy assistant coach Kevin Dean was let go by Cassidy last month before Sweeney and Team President Cam Neely fired Cassidy three weeks later. Dean was hired to join Luke Richardson’s staff with the Chicago Blackhawks this past week.

 

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