Bruins announce Claude Julien to return for 10th season as coach

The Boston Bruins made it official on Thursday morning – they’re bringing back Claude Julien.

Boston’s career head coaching wins leader will return to the Bruins bench for his 10th season in 2016-17.

Bruins fans waited patiently to hear if Julien, who has had remarkable success over his 9-year stint in Boston but has missed the postseason in consecutive years, would return.

"I emphatically believe that Claude is the coach who can take us through," Bruins GM Don Sweeney said at Thursday’s press conference.

The defensive-minded coach has struggled to get his team to close down the stretch, narrowly missing the postseason last week despite being in first place in the Atlantic Division not long before. It was the second year in a row that the team was eliminated from the postseason on the final weekend of the season.

But Julien has won a record number of games – 393 – as Boston’s head coach. He also led the team to a Stanley Cup in 2011, helped the team reach the finals again in 2013, and led the team to the President’s Trophy as the team with the league’s best record in 2014.

In a letter to season ticket holders, Sweeney said Julien "is fully committed to leading the Team back to being a Stanley Cup contender."

The Bruins made the playoffs for seven straight seasons under Julien’s leadership until stumbling in 2015 and 2016.

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