The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t let Bruce Cassidy sit on the open market for long. The club announced Tuesday that they had hired the former Boston Bruins coach to replace Peter DeBoer behind the bench.
When Cassidy was let go by the Bruins on June 6th, many clubs around the league were surprised by the move. The 57 year old compiled a 245-108-46 record in Boston, and led his team to the postseason in each of his 6 years as head coach.
The veteran laden Bruins roster was ousted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which ultimately led to GM Don Sweeney deciding that the team needed a new voice moving forward.
The Golden Knights failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, as a slew of injuries derailed their once promising season. In 3 years with Vegas, former coach DeBoer posted a 98-50-12 record, but was ultimately relieved of his duties in May.
In a statement released by the team on Tuesday, GM Kelly McCrimmon announced “The Golden Knights are very pleased to have Bruce come in to coach our team… His success in Boston over six years is extremely impressive. His teams have had a clear identity, having been among the very best in the NHL in terms of goals for, goals against, goal differential and special teams. This is the right coach for our team at this time.”
Coach Cassidy echoed that excitement stating “I am excited to join an organization that shares my commitment to winning and can’t wait to get to work with the talent that has been assembled in Vegas… It’s been impressive to watch the city embrace the Golden Knights from afar, and my family and I look forward to becoming a part of that.”
Vegas hopes that a change to their coaching staff, and a longer than expected offseason to heal will allow them to once again be at the top of the Pacific division in 2022-23.
Photo: Sarah Connors. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.