Boston Bruins fire head coach Bruce Cassidy
The Boston Bruins will be in the market for a new bench boss this summer.
On Monday, the team announced it has relieved head coach Bruce Cassidy of his duties effective immediately, putting an end to his six seasons at the helm.
In a press release, general manager Don Sweeney issued a statement, saying “Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a head coaching change. After 14 years working with Bruce, this was an extremely difficult decision.
“I want to thank and acknowledge Bruce for all his work and success with the Bruins organization,” Sweeney continued. “His head coaching record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally."
Bruins GM Don Sweeney on firing Bruce Cassidy: “After taking some time to fully digest everything, I felt that the direction of our team for both this season and beyond would benefit from a new voice.”
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 6, 2022
“I want to wish Bruce, Julie, Shannon and Cole much success as a family and with their future opportunities," Sweeney added.
The 57-year-old had one year remaining on his contract at the time of his firing. He’ll still be paid the $3 million that’s owed to him despite no longer acting as the franchise’s head coach.
Cassidy joined the Bruins as an assistant coach prior to the 2016-17 season. Midway through that campaign, he was named interim head coach after Claude Julien was fired on Feb. 7, 2017.
After taking over behind the bench, Cassidy coached the Bruins to an 18-8-1 record, which saw them place third in the Atlantic Division. The team went on to lose in the first round to the Ottawa Senators.
Boston later removed the interim tag from his status, making the Ottawa, Ontario native the club’s full-time head coach before the 2017-18 campaign. In his first full season, the organization finished 50-20-12 with 112 points for second in the Atlantic. They advanced to the second round before being eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Following the 2019-20 season, Cassidy was named the Jack Adams Award winner as the NHL’s Coach of the Year.
Across his six seasons as head coach, Cassidy totalled a 245-108-46 record through 399 regular-season contests. His team qualified for the playoffs in six straight seasons. Most recently, they fell to the Carolina Hurricanes during the opening round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. In 2019, Cassidy led his group all the way to the Stanley Cup final, where they lost to the St. Louis Blues in heartbreaking fashion in seven games.
Boston now joins the Philadelphia Flyers, Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights as franchises with current head coaching vacancies.
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