This Jim Montgomery comment should score points with Red Sox fans originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jim Montgomery is giving Boston fans plenty of reasons to like him.
The first-year Bruins head coach has led his team to a scorching 28-4-3 start, good for the best record in the NHL heading into the weekend. He also has something in common with many New Englanders.
Montgomery was asked Friday about his favorite Major League Baseball team ahead of the Bruins’ 2023 NHL Winter Classic matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins at Fenway Park, and the Montreal native listed the Boston Red Sox in his top two — with some great supporting evidence.
Ex-NHL player explains how Jim Montgomery has transformed Bruins
“(The Montreal) Expos were my National League team. Red Sox were my American League team,” Montgomery told reporters. “The 1978 (Red Sox) team was the team where I really started watching baseball a lot. I hate Bucky Dent.”
Amen to that, Jim.
Dent, of course, was the light-hitting Yankees infielder who launched an improbable 3-run home run in the 1978 AL East tiebreaker game at Fenway Park that helped end the Red Sox’ season and advance New York to the playoffs. The Yankees went on to win the World Series, and Dent forever became known in this region as “Bucky F—ing Dent.”
Boston is the closest major league city to Montreal geographically, so it’s no surprise that Montgomery grew up a part-Red Sox fan. Montgomery also played college hockey at the University of Maine, which likely strengthened his rooting interest in the Sox.
While the Red Sox haven’t given Montgomery much to be excited about of late — no word on how he feels about Xander Bogaerts leaving in free agency — he’s becoming a fast favorite in Boston for his immediate success with the Black and Gold.