Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy had a reputation on the way out of Boston as a head coach that might not mesh well with younger players. In 2022, He was behind the bench with the Bruins when Jake DeBrusk wanted out and was looking for a trade and the Bruins fired Cassidy after six seasons with the team and a 245-108-46 record. The team had gone 51-26-5 the season he was let go.
While he helped the Bruins qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his six seasons. They lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the Eastern Conference First Round the year of his dismissal, and word coming out of that decision was that his relationship with his younger players wasn’t good.
GM Don Sweeney said, at the time, “I just felt that the messaging and the voice that was going to be required, I felt that we needed a new direction.” Sweeney also acknowledged that the feedback he heard from a number of players factored into his decision. Sweeney added, “I think [the players] think, like I do, that Bruce is a terrific coach. And I think he’ll have a terrific amount of success, as he did here, in his next opportunity.” It didn’t take long for that premonition to come true as Cassidy led the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup this past season.
But, he had to jump through some hoops to get that job.
Cassidy admitted that there was hesitation in some of the job interviews he went on before finally being hired by Vegas. Teams asked what the deal was in Boston and why rumors were out there that he was difficult and potentially fired because of his relationships with the players. During an interview on the Cam and Strick Podcast, Cassidy said it wasn’t easy and there was some damage control that needed to be done.
He told teams, “Ask me whatever you want.” He then said he told a couple of teams that he’d gotten further along in the interview process with and said, “Why don’t you just have your captain called Marsh (Brad Marchand), or Bergy (Patrice Bergeron), or Pastr (David Pastnak), call the veteran guys and ask the questions, cause I’d rather it be out there now if you’re worried about something.” Cassidy said some teams did and knows that Mark Stone called Bergeron and asked the tough questions.
It was Bergeron’s helpful review of the work that Cassidy did in Boston that helped him land in Vegas.
Cassidy admitted that some of the younger guys in Boston were not happy with certain parts of the coaching and noted that the messaging, not the actual message, was an issue. He noted he’s taken that to heart and is a bit more cautious about how he sends the message now. That said, he’s always going to hold his team accountable and that part of his personality and job is never going to change.
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