Joe Sacco Boston Bruins - Assistant Coach

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Joe Sacco was hired by the Boston Bruins as assistant coach on July 24, 2014.

Sacco, who is from Medford, Mass., and played collegiately at Boston University, replaced Geoff Ward on Bruins coach Claude Julien's staff.

Prior to be hired by Boston, Sacco was an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres for the 2013-14 season after spending the previous four seasons as the coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado went 130-134-40 under Sacco, who was a Jack Adams Award finalist after the 2009-10 season, the only time he got the Avalanche into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sacco’s 43 wins were the second most by a rookie head coach in Avalanche franchise history, just one shy of Bob Hartley’s 44 victories in 1998-99. The Avs were 10-1-2 in their first 13 games under Sacco, which tied him for the second-best record through the first 13 games as a head coach in NHL history.

Sacco has also gained coaching experience at the international level, as he has served as an assistant coach for Team USA at each of the last two IIHF World Championships (2009 and 2010).

Sacco was a fourth-round pick (71st overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 Entry Draft. He appeared in 738 total games over his 13-year career in the National Hockey League, which included stints with Toronto, Anaheim, the New York Islanders, Washington and Philadelphia. The right winger finished with 94 goals and 119 assists for 213 points.