As Bruce Cassidy sits 4 wins away from the Stanley Cup, ought to the Bruins remorse canning their former coach?

Bruins

Bruce Cassidy and the Golden Knights sit simply 4 wins away from a Stanley Cup title.

It’s been over 4 weeks for the reason that Boston Bruins skated off the ice at TD Backyard in heartbreaking vogue.

Out west, their former bench boss in Bruce Cassidy sits simply 4 wins away from hoisting hockey’s high prize.

Throughout a spring the place little appears to have gone proper for a record-setting Bruins roster, the sight of Cassidy main the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Closing feels becoming. 

For many followers, it was one other option to twist the knife in a season gone awry.

For a selection few, Cassidy’s success stands as bitter validation — with the Bruins inevitably dealing with repentance for canning a coach who led them to 245 wins, a President’s Trophy, and 60 minutes away from a title.

When the Bruins opted to fireplace Cassidy after a first-round exit towards the Hurricanes final yr, the prevailing message from Boston’s high brass centered across the want for a brand new voice.

“You don’t exit and get 107 factors, win 51 video games, if the gamers aren’t responding to you. It simply doesn’t occur. He’s in a position the push the buttons which are mandatory,” Don Sweeney stated final June after firing Cassidy. “However it takes its toll. Over the course of time, it takes its toll. You’ve received to discover a option to both develop that message a bit in a different way.”

Clearly, the Golden Knights tuned into no matter Cassidy preached in his first yr out within the desert.

Vegas has carved a swath by way of the Western Convention because of an abundance of scoring depth and a smothering defensive system — the latter a trademark of a Cassidy-led membership.

Whereas star gamers like Jack Eichel have purchased into Cassidy’s sport plan in quest of a sought-after championship, Vegas has not wavered towards a number of waves of adversity.

Adin Hill, as soon as mounted because the third possibility on Vegas’ goalie depth chart, has now posted a .937 save proportion by way of 11 playoff outings.

Following the postseason trajectory of each Cassidy and Jim Montgomery was at all times going to be a story value following, particularly if the hockey gods ultimately paved the best way for a conflict within the Cup Closing.

However as Cassidy braces his crew for the Panthers and the Bruins sit in pained anticipation for a seismic offseason, it’s solely pure to ask: Ought to the Bruins remorse firing Cassidy? 

It may be robust to disregard the optics, particularly because the Golden Knights open the Cup Closing on Saturday evening at T-Cellular Enviornment.

However finally, holding onto such second-guessing sentiment is a notion that’s not solely short-sighted — it overlooks the inexorable shelf life that every one coaches are saddled with in professional hockey.

Finally, two issues might be true right here.

Cassidy is a incredible coach whose candid cadence and lofty expectations can elevate nearly any locker room he’s given the reins to. It’s robust to argue towards the physique of labor that Cassidy has crafted over the previous seven years now.

However you too can say that the time had come for Boston to maneuver on, particularly if Cassidy’s total messaging was beginning to get tuned out throughout the board.

Sure, you possibly can have a look at the apparent domino impact that performed out after Cassidy was fired, be it Jake DeBrusk rescinding his commerce request or David Krejci getting back from a one-year trek again to his native Czechia.

However yearly, excellent coaches are handed pink slips throughout professional sports activities every time administration believes that their voice and ideas have began to go stale. Even probably the most skilled, accountable gamers in a locker room will begin to tune out the identical mantras and instructions which have been shouted out yr after yr.

Past the potential discontent from a number of gamers at Cassidy’s communication model, the Bruins determined they wanted to shake issues up in search of a better ceiling with a tried-and-true core that wasn’t getting any youthful.

And let’s face it. There have been loads of critics of Cassidy’s firing who had been shortly gained over by Montgomery and his position in Boston’s record-setting season.

Past his constructive method on and off the ice, Montgomery’s system tweaks drew extra expertise out of a roster that after appeared to have peaked years in the past.

An emphasis on shot high quality over amount and extra offensive freedom on the blue line paid on the spot dividends. After rating fifteenth in 5v5 high-danger targets in 2022, Boston ranked fourth this previous season.

Boston positioned second within the league with 3.67 targets scored per sport, together with a league-leading 2.12 targets towards per contest. All season lengthy, Montgomery appeared to push the suitable buttons with a roster that clicked throughout the depth chart.

Past the anticipated contributions from star gamers like Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, gamers like Pavel Zacha and Hampus Lindholm took main steps ahead. Brandon Carlo and DeBrusk each submitted arguably the most effective seasons of their respective careers. Trent Frederic broke by way of with 17 targets.

After all, it’s robust to hold your hat on record-breaking numbers in regular-season play whenever you bow out within the first spherical. And make no mistake, Montgomery performed a significant position within the Bruins’ momentum collapse.

Be it his mishandling of the goalie rotation or numerous lineup switcheroos that yielded disastrous outcomes, nearly each name Montgomery created from Video games 5-7 backfired tremendously for his crew. 

“The overriding one is it’s my job to get gamers to personal the second, seize the second. And that didn’t occur, proper? And that falls on me,” Montgomery stated in his final presser of the season. “And I feel with the arduous occasions we went by way of, we’ve got to be taught from them, proper? If we don’t be taught from them, how are we going to develop?”

It was a brutal ending to a season marked with a lot promise, with that loss to the Panthers additional magnified by the murky way forward for each Bergeron and Krejci.

However Montgomery is way from the primary coach to be marred by lineup miscues and expensive calls.

Even Cassidy was removed from immune from season-deciding slip-ups in Boston.

His cussed refusal to separate up the Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line time and time once more stunted Boston’s scoring depth — particularly within the 2019 Cup Closing when Ryan O’Reilly’s line dominated Bergeron’s grouping.

His dedication to an injured Tuukka Rask within the 2021 Jap Convention Semifinal proved to be Boston’s undoing towards the Islanders, particularly with a poised rookie in Jeremy Swayman prepared and keen to play.

Montgomery, very like Cassidy, is a really, excellent coach. And very like the teachings that Cassidy has realized over his earlier six years with Boston, Montgomery could have his probability to proper his wrongs in 2023-24.

Thus far, Cassidy has earned the final chortle towards his former membership. There’s no doubting that.

Now the onus is on Montgomery — and particularly the gamers themselves — to supply up an acceptable retort subsequent season.

In spite of everything, that’s what good coaches do. And each Vegas and Boston have the posh of getting one behind their respective benches.