For the second time in his coaching career, Bruce Cassidy finds himself let go as a head coach in the National Hockey League. The first time came in the summer of 2022, when the Boston Bruins let Cassidy go. He was soon picked up by the Vegas Golden Knights, who also let their head coach, Peter DeBoer, go that same summer.
NHL News: Vegas Golden Knights Fire Bruce Cassidy and Hire John Tortorella
Cassidy came into Vegas with an edge as he fell one game short of the Stanley Cup in 2019 with the Bruins. The talent was assembled; they just needed a coach to push them to their limits to win. In his first season with the Golden Knights, Bruce Cassidy won the Stanley Cup. But since then, despite winning 60 percent of their games, the team has regressed.
Whether that is poor roster construction, poor goaltending, or something else, the Vegas Golden Knights were not living up to expectations, so GM Kelly McCrimmon felt a change was needed. But it raises the question: did Cassidy lose the room, or was something else brewing?
As Hockey Insider Elliotte Friedman noted on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, as well as the NHL Network and Sportsnet, Bruce Cassidy is a hard coach to play for, and he demands a lot from his players. There was tension between the group dating back to when he got there.
Bruce Cassidy is a great coach, but he’s demanding. And I think one of the things now has had two jobs, and it seems kind of like one of those guys, three, four years, and then he really starts to grind on players.
And last year, the Edmonton series where the Oilers beat them (Vegas), I heard right before that series ended, before Game 5, there was a really tense meeting between Cassidy and some of those players, and I think at the end of last year, it kind of frayed their relationship. Some of the players did like what Cassidy had to say. I know some players said some things to management. Management backed Cassidy, but it seems to be pretty obvious this year, and obviously, Vegas management realized it too, that his message just wasn’t getting through anymore. The relationship between the players wasn’t as strong as it used to be, and sometimes it’s just time.
Like any player-coach relationship, things sour. McCrimmon said at the Monday media meeting that Cassidy didn’t lose the room. It was more of the team losing energy and spirit. The players echoed that sentiment, though captain Mark Stone felt the locker room was stale.
NHL Rumors: Vegas Golden Knights Looking at Centers
However, it is not like John Tortorella isn’t a demanding coach. Sometimes you just need a new voice bringing the same message. The way Tortorella coaches, he can get guys to play with the energy necessary to win.
But this is the second time players have not been happy with Cassidy and his coaching style. But you know Bruce Cassidy will land on his feet somewhere, given his pedigree.
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