Claude Julien Will Be Back to Coach the Bruins Next Season

Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien Photo by Alex Brandon / AP

Claude Julien will be staying in Boston for the foreseeable future.

General manager Don Sweeney confirmed at a press conference on Thursday that Julien will “absolutely” be back as the Bruins head coach for the 2016-2017 season.

“I believe in Claude as a coach,” Sweeney told reporters at the TD Garden, according to the Boston Globe.

Julien, who was also at the press conference, said that after assessing the situation, he didn’t want to bail on the team just because they had a rough end to the season and barely missed the playoffs.

“I want to be here. I want to bring this team back to where we once had it. I know we had some bumps along the way,” Julien said. “I don’t want to be the guy that bails because we had some bumps.”

Sweeney did reveal that one person would not be coming back next year, assistant coach Doug Houda.

There were some questions as to whether Julien would return following another late season collapse by the Bruins. For the second year in a row, the team failed to secure a playoff spot despite having plenty of opportunities down the stretch.

In the final game of the season, the Bruins took a whooping from the Ottawa Senators, losing 6-1. The loss sealed Boston’s fate, eliminating the team from playoff contention.

While the past two seasons have been hard to watch for fans, Julien did recently lead the Bruins to a Stanley Cup victory in 2011.