The Boston Bruins were hoping to make a deep playoff run this season but instead were bounced in the first round courtesy of the Carolina Hurricanes. After the disappointing playoff performance, Bruins GM Don Sweeney announced the team would be relieving Bruce Cassidy from his duties as head coach.
On Monday, Sweeney released the following statement, via Bruins.com:
“Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a head coaching change,” said Sweeney. “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. His head coaching 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. I want to wish Bruce, Julie, Shannon and Cole much success as a family and with their future opportunities.”
Cassidy had been the Bruins' head coach since the 2016-17 season when he took over the role after Boston fired Claude Julien midway through the season. Across six years with the Bruins, Cassidy registered a 245-108-46 record and led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018-19, though they lost in the championship to the St. Louis Blues.
The Bruins made the playoffs in every year that Cassidy was at the helm, logging an overall record of 36-37 in the postseason, though never managing to win a title. While Cassidy had only been the head coach since 2016, he's been with the Bruins organization for as many as 14 years, so the decision to move on from the 57-year-old was surely a difficult one.
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