Sometimes the way that life works, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Case in point: tonight while he probably was getting ready at his house to watch Game 2 of Lightning-Islanders in the Eastern Conference Finals, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy found out that he had won his first Jack Adams Award. That honor is "given annually to the coach who has contributed the most to his team's success" as voted on by the National Hockey League broadcasters association. So on one hand, Cassidy was out of the Toronto bubble and with his family therefore they could all enjoy the biggest achievement of his coaching career. Truthfully, I'm sure that he would give it all up in a heartbeat just to have his team still competing in the 2020 NHL playoffs after Tampa Bay knocked them out of the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games.
This was the second time in just three years (he finished 2nd in 2018) as an NHL head coach that Cassidy was nominated for the biggest award in his profession. He beat out Philadelphia's head coach Alain Vigneault and Columbus' head coach John Tortorella so he has that going for him. Surprisingly with all of Boston's history, Cassidy became only the fourth Bruins head coach to ever win the Jack Adams Award, joining Don Cherry (1976), Pat Burns (1998) and his predecessor-Claude Julien (2009). You had a feeling that this was his time to win it since Boston had a spectacular regular season (44-14-12) to capture the dreaded Presidents' Trophy (most points in the regular season). When the Coronavirus pandemic halted play in mid-March, the Bruins led the league in wins, regulation wins (38) and goals allowed per game (2.39).
I will never claim that head coaches make a huge difference in the NHL but just from being around Cassidy since Day 1 in Boston, you can clearly see that he's been exactly what the B's needed after Julien got tuned out for his last few seasons here. They've posted 100+ points in each of his campaigns in charge which is nothing to scoff at. Now, he needs a Stanley Cup-the toughest championship to win in American pro sports-to round out his personal trophy case. With Tampa Bay up 2-0 on New York in their series, it feels like the Lightning are going to win the Cup this fall (that sounds so weird to say) although don't count out the Golden Knights if they beat the Stars in the Western Conference Finals. There is no doubt that Boston left one on the table last season by choking in Game 7 at the Garden vs. St. Louis. Regardless of what happens the next few years, Bruins GM Don Sweeney can rest easy knowing that he has the right guy behind the bench as they transition from one era of veterans into the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment