Bruins fire Cassidy after 6 seasons
The Bruins fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who led them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, the best record in the league the next year and at least 100 points in each of his four full non-pandemic seasons behind the bench.
General manager Don Sweeney announced the move Monday night, three weeks after the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Hurricanes.
“This was an extremely difficult decision,” Sweeney said in a statement. “His head coaching record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally.”
The Bruins made the playoffs in each of Cassidy’s six seasons since he took over for Claude Julien in February 2017. He coached them within one victory of the Stanley Cup in 2019 against the Blues.
But the team hasn’t gotten out of the second round since then, including a Game 7 loss to the Hurricanes this spring.
The Jack Adams Award winner as the NHL’S top coach in 2020, Cassidy becomes a top candidate for vacancies with the Flyers, Blackhawks, Jets, Golden Knights and Red Wings.
After struggling for two seasons with the Capitals in his first NHL head-coaching job, from 2002-04, Cassidy worked his way back to the NHL with the Bruins’ American Hockey League affiliate in Providence.
Cassidy, 57, took over the Bruins from Julien, who led the team to the 2011 Cup championship and back to the final two years later. With the core of Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and goaltender Tuukka Rask, Cassidy brought the team to the cusp of another title in 2019 before losing to the Blues in seven games.
In all, Cassidy was 245-108-46 with the Bruins.
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