NHL

Bruins fire coach Cassidy in favour of 'new voice'

By Sports Desk June 07, 2022

The Boston Bruins have taken the "extremely difficult decision" to fire coach Bruce Cassidy despite reaching the playoffs in each of his six seasons.

Cassidy was appointed as coach in February 2017 – initially on an interim basis – having served as assistant since the start of the 2016-17 season. He had previously led the AHL Providence Bruins.

The Bruins made the former Washington Capitals coach their permanent hire in April of that year, and Boston made the playoffs.

The team had been missing from the postseason in the previous two seasons but would go on to be regulars with Cassidy behind the bench.

He took the Bruins all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019, only to lose to the St. Louis Blues.

Despite the Bruins continuing to make the playoffs, that was as close as Cassidy would come to adding a seventh championship, this year losing in the first round to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Cassidy leaves Boston having overseen 399 regular season games, the fifth-most in team history. With a record of 245-108-46, he is tied third for most Bruins wins.

General manager Don Sweeney explained his dismissal, saying in a statement: "Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a 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 organisation. His record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally.

"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."

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