Tyngsborough, Mass. (WEEI/WGR 550) - A day after Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy brought the Stanley Cup to Massachusetts, Jack Eichel kept it local during his day with the trophy, bringing it to Tyngsboro’s Skate 3 and a few other stops in-and-around his hometown of North Chelmsford.
An estimated 3,000 people turned out to get their photo taken with Eichel and the Stanley Cup at Skate 3, where the Golden Knights star center learned to skate, and where he still skates when he’s home.
Eichel met with some local media while he was there and had some high praise for Cassidy, the former Bruins head coach who helped guide the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup title in his first season in Vegas.
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“It was incredible,” Eichel said of being coached by Cassidy. “I mean, I think what he did for our group and for me as a player, it was the reason we won. I think he came in and the way that he changed our game, but just push guys and hold everyone accountable and the way that he was able to get us to play, it was great. He was phenomenal. He was great all year.”
Eichel’s father, Bob, also heaped praise on Cassidy for the work he did with his son.
“I give Coach Cassidy a lot of credit,” Bob Eichel said Friday. “Made him a 200-foot player. I mean, of course he's had a lot of great players in Boston that he worked with, and I think he did an unbelievable job. I thanked him when I went on the ice, and I thank him every time I see him. He's a great guy and he did a great job with Jack, made him that type of player.”
Eichel and his father were both obviously familiar with Cassidy’s work in Boston, as well as some of the rumors and reports about Cassidy’s rocky relationship with a few players that surfaced after the Bruins fired him. Eichel said he did talk to a couple Bruins, but that he’s also a “big believer that you build off your own experience.” His dad agreed.
“He left here, but every year he won,” Bob Eichel said of Cassidy. “You hear rumors and hear people talking about certain things, but you know what, he’s a coach. They all got shelf lives, even Belichick, anybody. You’ve got a shelf life. It’s like all these guys… you know how they do it in the NHL, all sports. All they do is recycle coaches, right?”
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Boston’s loss turned out to be a big win for Eichel and Vegas, and now the Stanley Cup has returned to Massachusetts not after a Bruins win, but for back-to-back days of celebration for Cassidy and Eichel in front of throngs of adoring fans.
“I was expecting a lot of people. I don't know if I was expecting this many people,” Eichel said. “It goes to show the support in the hockey community around here, and it means a ton. Just being around the last few days, I golfed up here and just doing a few things, you run into people and everyone was telling me that they were coming, so I knew that the turnout would be pretty crazy. It's amazing to have all these people come out and support me.”
The former second overall pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2015 NHL Draft was traded to the Golden Knights in November of 2021.
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