Cassidy fired as Bruins coach after six seasons

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Bruce Cassidy was fired as coach of the Boston Bruins on Monday.

The Bruins (51-26-5) qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of Cassidy’s six seasons. They lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the Eastern Conference First Round this season.

Cassidy was 245-108-46, and 36-37 in the playoffs, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, when the Bruins lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games.

“Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a head coaching change,” Boston general manager Don Sweeney said. “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 was named Bruins coach on Feb. 7, 2017 after eight seasons with Providence of the American Hockey League, including five as head coach. The 57-year-old is 292-155-53 with nine ties in 509 games in eight NHL seasons with the Bruins and Washington Capitals.

Cassidy is the fifth coach to be fired since the regular season ended, following Jeff Blashill by the Detroit Red Wings (April 30), Mike Yeo by the Philadelphia Flyers (May 3), Barry Trotz by the New York Islanders (May 9) and Peter DeBoer by the Vegas Golden Knights (May 16). The Islanders hired Lane Lambert as coach May 16. The Winnipeg Jets announced May 2 they would have a coaching search and Dave Lowry, who replaced Paul Maurice as coach Dec. 17, could be interviewed for the job. The Chicago Blackhawks are conducting a search that includes Derek King, who replaced Jeremy Colliton as coach Nov. 6.

Rick Bowness stepped down as coach of the Dallas Stars on May 20.

“I have the utmost confidence in Don to conduct a thorough search to identify the best candidate that is going to help our team reach its full potential,” Bruins president Cam Neely said.