“Can’t wait to get to work” – Bruce Cassidy hired as Vegas Golden Knights coach

“Can’t wait to get to work” – Bruce Cassidy hired as Vegas Golden Knights coach

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Canada’s Bruce Cassidy was announced as the new coach of the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. The 57-year-old replaces Peter DeBoer, who was fired on May 16 after the Golden Knights (43-31-8) stood three points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

This marked the maiden instance when Mark Stone and his men failed to qualify for the post-season since joining the National Hockey League (NHL) as an expansion team in 2017-18. On the other hand, Cassidy was sacked as coach of the Boston Bruins on June 6 despite guiding them to the playoffs in each of his six seasons. The Bruins earlier went down to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the Eastern Conference First Round this season.

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“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,” Cassidy said, as quoted by NHL.com. “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.”

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“Cassidy’s success in Boston over six years is extremely impressive”

Bruce Cassidy
Bruce Cassidy

DeBoer, who replaced Gerard Gallant in January 2020, led the Golden Knights to 98-50-12 in three seasons. Meanwhile, the 57-year-old Cassidy was 245-108-46 with the Bruins and 36-37 in the playoffs, including a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Blues in the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. 

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“His success in Boston over six years is extremely impressive,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “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.”

“We missed the playoffs, which is humbling for a team no matter what the reasons were for how that happened. The decision was made based on next year and was not made based on [2021-22],” McCrimmon said the day DeBoer was fired.

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