The 1-0 victory over the Utah Hockey Club at Boston Garden last night may have marked Joe Sacco’s debut as Boston Bruins Interim Head Coach, but his first ever game in the coaching ranks actually bears a Lowell connection.

Then Head Coach Tom Rowe tapped Sacco to be an Assistant Coach behind the Lowell Lock Monsters bench in 2005. He eventually ascended to the head coaching ranks with the team in 2007, but by that point, the Monsters had dropped the “Lock” from their name and moved to Cleveland, Ohio as the Lake Erie Monsters.

Still, Sacco left his mark in the Mill City, earing the respect of current Bruins Play-by-Play Announcer, Ryan Johnston. Johnston, who still lives in Dracut and recently wrapped up a 24-year run at 980WCAP-AM to take the B’s job, remembers Sacco “bringing the same hard working mentality as a coach that he did as a player.”

“I always found him very easy to deal with and very personable,” Johnston tells InsideLowell. “I think as an assistant he was more involved with the fan interaction events than the head coach would be, but I think he enjoyed that stuff, especially being close to home.”

The Medford, MA native and former Boston University star first skated in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1990, amassing 94-goals (2 in the playoffs) and 215-total points over a productive 13-year playing career.

Sacco served four years as Head Coach of the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2013. The Buffalo Sabres hired him as an assistant in 2013, before he returned home to join the Bruins staff in a similar capacity in 2014. The Black and Gold named him Interim Head Coach Tuesday, replacing Jim Montgomery as head man behind the bench.