BOSTON -- Boston Bruins coach Terry O'Reilly, who led the team to the Stanley Cup finals last year, resigned Monday, citing a 'gut feeling' and a desire to be closer to his family.
A replacement was not named, but general manager Harry Sinden said assistant coach John Cunniff and former player-coach Mike Milbury are 'two names on a very short list.'
'I made the decision in mid-season,' O'Reilly said at a news conference at Boston Garden. 'I couldn't give you an exact date. But it was just time to make a change. To give you all the reasons would be difficult and I don't know if I could.'
He said, however, one major factor was a desire to be closer to his two sons, ages 6 and 9. His younger son has a serious liver ailment.
O'Reilly, 37, said the time commitment of a head coach 'is a very high price to pay.' Asked whether his resignation elicited relief or sadness, he responded, 'It's a happy day.'
Sinden said O'Reilly will be given another job in the Bruins organization.
The Bruins posted a 115-86-26 regular-season record under O'Reilly, a forward who played 14 NHL seasons, all with the Bruins. O'Reilly took over as coach on Nov. 8, 1986, after Butch Goring was fired.
'Terry indicated to me right from his very first game as coach that he did not plan on a long career as coach,' Sinden said. 'I agreed to leave the door open for him to leave whenever he felt the time was right.'
O'Reilly reshaped the Bruins in his own image, restoring the hard-checking, grinding style of play he showed during his career. As a player from 1971 to 1985, O'Reilly amassed a team-record 2,095 penalty minutes, scoring 204 goals and 402 assists in 891 games.
The Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres in five games in the opening round of this year's NHL playoffs, but were eliminated in five games by the Montreal Canadiens in the Adams Division finals, with all five games being decided by one goal.
In the 1987-88 season, the Bruins beat Buffalo, Montreal and the New Jersey Devils to reach the Stanley Cup finals, but were defeated in four straight games by the Edmonton Oilers.
Several Bruins players said the past season's injuries took their toll on O'Reilly.
'It was frustrating for everybody, especially him,' said left winger Bobby Joyce. 'This year we had so many ups and downs it was really hard on him. He's got other things too, he's got a sick little boy. He's been on the road now for 20 years doing the hockey thing. He figured he ought to spend some time with his family.'
Milbury, a former Bruins defenseman, coached the past two seasons with the AHL Maine Mariners, the Bruins' top minor-league club. He was also previously a player-coach with the Bruins.
Cunniff, a former assistant coach and scout with the Hartford Whalers, came to the Bruins in November 1986.
