Bruins hire former Avalanche bench boss Joe Sacco as assistant coach

The Boston Bruins have hired former Colorado Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco, who will join Claude Julien's staff as an assistant coach, the club announced Thursday.

The Mass. born Sacco, a former BU Terrier, spent four seasons as the head coach of the Colorado Avalanche from 2009 to 2013. Under Sacco's guidance the Avalanche racked up the top draft picks they used to select players like Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon in the 2011 and 2013 NHL Entry drafts, respectively. 

Sacco, 45, spent part of the 2013-14 season as an assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres. He'll replace former Bruins assistant coach Geoff Ward, who recently resigned in order to take over head coaching duties for Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. 

In his 294 games as an NHL head coach, Sacco has amassed a 130-134-30 record.