Bruce Cassidy understands the clock is always ticking for a coach, but he didn’t think his time in Boston was up.
Cassidy, who was fired by the Bruins on Monday after five-plus seasons as the team’s head coach, met with a group of reporters via Zoom on Thursday to discuss the end of his Boston tenure.
John Buccigross reacts to the firing of Bruce Cassidy
Cassidy said general manager Don Sweeney met with him at Cassidy’s house on Monday to inform him he was being dismissed. Cassidy said he was surprised because he had left his end-of-season meetings in mid-May under the impression that they would be moving forward with him remaining the coach.
“I was [surprised] at the time, when he came over,” Cassidy said. “We had a meeting at the end of the year with the entire staff, a little bit of review. There’s exit meetings that get talked about. You can’t do it all in a few hours, go over the whole year, but the typical rehash of what we did in the playoffs, what went well, what we can improve on, and let’s talk about the roster a little bit. And we did that as a group.
“Met with Donny after to discuss a little bit of, ‘OK, where do I stand? What about the staff?’ We discussed those things, so I was under the assumption and preparing for it. But at the end of the day, you’re always on the clock as a coach. It did catch me a bit by surprise when he came over. … Donny was very respectful in how he delivered the message. I don’t always agree with it, obviously. I want to be the head coach of the Boston Bruins.”
Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported on Thursday that Cassidy had been told he was “safe” after the season. Cassidy did not use that word himself, but he did say he was told that it would be “status quo” and that he would be coaching on the final year of his contract.
“The end-of-year meeting was that I would be coaching on the year of my deal, and that’s how we would be proceeding forward,” Cassidy said. “Sometimes, there’s talks after the year, right away there’s coaches let go, or there’s extensions, there’s status quo. So that was the message: It will be status quo.”
On Tuesday, Sweeney told reporters that he made the decision to move on from Cassidy “after taking a few weeks to unpack a lot of things that happen over the course of the year.” He said he came to the conclusion that “a new direction” was needed in terms of “the messaging and the voice that was gonna be required.”
Cassidy confirmed that is basically what Sweeney told him. He added that while there is always room to improve, he’s “proud” of the work he did.
“What Donny indicated to me was that the messaging was not being received, or being delivered the wrong way,” Cassidy said. “I think as coaches, you have to evolve over the years. Players change. But at the end of the day, to be perfectly frank, I’m very proud of the work I’ve done.”
Cassidy came under particular criticism, including from team president Cam Neely, for being too demanding of young players. He said he’s made note of the feedback and will try to learn from it in his next job, but also said he will always hold players accountable when he believes it is warranted.
“Not every player works out. Not every player you’re gonna connect with, young or old,” he said. “But I believe in myself when it comes to coaching young guys. In my next challenge, I’ll make sure that I’m mindful of the message, because I respect Donny when he talks to me about what I need to do better. He’s been in the game a long time. That’s something I’ll have to take with me to my next job, but still drive home the accountability, because I don’t think you have much of a team if players aren’t held accountable to a standard.”
One thing is clear: Cassidy wanted to be back.
“I had term on my deal, as you know, and I wanted to come back and coach the Bruins,” Cassidy said. “It’s been a privilege and an honor. The 14 years here, in different capacities in the organization, I mean the Bruin is basically tattooed to me.”
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