Ahead of the Boston Bruins’ 2017-18 season, great attention is understandably on head coach Bruce Cassidy. He’s fresh off returning the Original Six side to the NHL playoffs and is slowly putting the Claude Julien era in the rearview mirror.
But during such heightened attention, it’s easy to lose sight of a holdover from the tail end of Julien’s spell behind the bench, someone for whom Boston runs through his blood. For Jay Pandolfo, a Burlington, Mass., native who won the 1995 NCAA title at Boston University and closed out his storied NHL career in Beantown, the impending NHL season marks his second behind the bench.
"I couldn’t ask for anything more," Pandolfo said. "Following the Bruins my whole life and finishing my career playing for them a short time, and then being from here and knowing how passionate the fans are, I definitely enjoy it, and we’ve luckily had some success."
A winger during his playing days, Pandolfo said he’ll work with the Black and Gold’s forwards and power-play units this go-around, though how he ended up in such a role isn’t so black and white. After retiring in 2013, he took a year off and found himself having conversations with Don Sweeney, then the B’s assistant general manager, and Peter Chiarelli, their longtime general manager.
As Pandolfo said, one thing led to another and he became a player development coach for Boston, then director of player development in 2015-16. In that role, he spent ample time down in Providence working alongside Cassidy and Kevin Dean, now an assistant coach in Boston, as well as keeping tabs on Boston’s prospects, often in person and at NCAA games.
"I planned on taking a year off after playing to think about what that next step would be," Pandolfo said. "Just because the game has been such a big part of my life, it drew me back to staying in it and that opportunity came about. Even talking with Don, when I was first down in Providence it was more part time. It was getting my feet wet and it ending up working out."
Pandolfo’s ascension through the front office ranks was quick, but it hit second gear ahead of the 2016-17 season when he joined Julien’s staff as a replacement for Doug Jarvis. The transition, Pandolfo said, was pretty seamless, and he learned a lot from Julien about coaching at the highest level, even though they shared roughly eight months on the same staff.
He found himself picking Julien’s brain and observing from afar the man who holds Boston’s all-time wins record and a 419-246-94 record.
"Just the structure and getting players to buy in of how you want your team to play, that’s big part of it from Claude," Pandolfo said. "He does a great job of that and I watched from him and you have to have your team how you want to play. Give them freedom, but you have to give them a system that allows that all to surface."
The learning moments don’t stop there for the 42-year-old Pandolfo. When Cassidy was handed the head-coaching gig, Pandolfo remained on staff to help Boston’s forwards, and the transition was eased by their shared time in Providence.
"I was pretty much for two years working with Bruce a lot," Pandolfo said. "We got to know each other well and I really enjoyed his approach to the game and how he wanted his teams to play and how they practiced. That’s one of the things I learned; he made practices fast and how we wanted to play. It would transition into the game and how he wanted to have his teams ready."
Always willing to learn more about coaching, Pandolfo said one of his biggest influences was Jack Parker (Somerville, Mass.), BU’s legendary head coach for 40 years. And from all these progressions, it’s natural to wonder what the next step could be for Pandolfo.
When asked that very question, however, Pandolfo said being a head coach isn’t yet on his radar screen and that he’s just focused on improving from year to year. In doing that, he’ll be tested mightily throughout 2017-18 as Boston tries to fuse its veteran core with some young guns.
For Pandolfo, that might mean having conversations with Anders Bjork or Jake DeBrusk, two prospects and possible wingers in Boston, and then chatting with Patrice Bergeron, a 32-year-old center. What Pandolfo wants the most, though, is to help Boston leave its mark on the playoffs after being bounced in the first round last year by the Ottawa Senators.
"We didn’t cause as much fuss in the playoffs as we would have wanted, but we’re excited by the core and players coming in. If we can get them up and running and fitting in with some of the guys, we’re really excited to see how that will pan out. We’re thinking it’ll help us even more come playoff time and building through the year."
An optimistic viewpoint from Pandolfo, someone for whom being a part of the Bruins means a little something extra.
