Bruins make it official, name Cassidy coach

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It took a few days of discussions and Don Sweeney doing his due diligence as a general manager, but Bruce Cassidy was officially named the 28th head coach of the Bruins on Wednesday morning after guiding them back into the playoffs once he had replaced Claude Julien midseason. 

Cassidy was hired in early February and spurred the Bruins into an 18-8-1 finish to the regular season before falling in six games in the first round of the playoffs to the Ottawa Senators, and showed an ability to spur Boston’s offense while also working well in developing the Bruins young players at the NHL level.

Since Cassidy assumed head coaching responsibilities on Feb. 9, the Bruins ranked first in the NHL in goals per game (3.37), first in the NHL in fewest shots allowed (741), tied for second in the NHL in wins (18), tied for second in the NHL in power-play percentage (27.8), tied for third in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.30), tied for fifth in the NHL in faceoff percentage (53.6%) and tied for sixth in the NHL in takeaways (229).

It was an impressive showing by Cassidy in his return to the world of NHL head coaching after a two-year stint with the Washington Capitals some 13 years ago, and it was clear to just everybody that he had earned the right to coach the Black and Gold.

“It’s no secret that I appreciate the way that [Bruce Cassidy] thinks the game, and I think we played well in front of him. Guys wanted to compete for him and I think his record speaks for itself when he popped in,” said Torey Krug, who was among B’s players like Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Backes that endorsed Cassidy publicly during B’s break-up day on Tuesday afternoon. “I think he is a guy that the players want to play for, and I think a lot of [other Bruins players] would echo that same message.”

Cassidy and GM Don Sweeney will both meet with the media on Thursday morning to discuss the hiring, pore over the just-concluded season and talk about the bright future for the Bruins after gaining a foothold under the new coach’s guidance. 

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