CASSIDY, SHAW GO WAY BACK

COLUMBUS — Thirty-five years ago, Brad Shaw was playing for the Memorial Cupwinning Ottawa 67’s.

His blue-line partner on the first-unit power play was Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy.

Now they’re coaching against each other in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Both will tell you the time has flown.

“The pictures (from those days) look funny. They look old,” Shaw laughed. “They make you realize how long it’s been.”

The Shaw-Cassidy friendship is galvanized by the two seasons they spent playing junior together.

“Whenever you win, you have closer relationships with those guys than some other teams you play with and some other guys you play with,” said Shaw, who was brought together with Cassidy on a group text set up by Darren Pang, their 67’s goalie, before this series began.

“Panger was like: ‘Hey, you guys, keep it civil’ and ‘I’m not sure who I’m pulling for here.’ “It’s all in good fun.” Shaw marvels at how good a player Cassidy was before being slowed by knee injuries.

“I’d just try to get him the puck and he’d do the rest of the work,” said Shaw. “I think he had over 100 points (111, including 25 goals) as a rookie, which is crazy. The plays, the composure with the puck was off the charts. He’s one of those guys, you never know how good he could have been.”

Shaw is also impressed with the job Cassidy has done with the Bruins.

”He’s got his team playing really well,” said Shaw. “He’s a good coach. He’s learned a lot of good lessons along the way. He’s been in lots of different scenarios as a coach too, and I think that helps you on how to deal with lots of different kinds of situations.

“He should be proud of the job he’s done. But it’s always fun when you get to sort of go head-to-head with an old friend like that.”