While it will always be debatable really how much a head coach can affect a given NHL game, the numbers back up Cassidy in terms of putting him on the short list of the best at his position currently in the league. He's been here for roughly 2.5 regular seasons and three postseasons with his team getting better each year: a first-round playoff exit vs. Ottawa in 2017, a second-round loss to Tampa Bay in 2018 and the aforementioned mind-numbing loss to the Blues. In his first two full seasons in charge of the Black and Gold, the club has finished in a more than respectable second-place in the Eastern Conference. Overall, he is 117-52-22 (a .670 winning percentage) in the regular season which is the fourth-best winning percentage in team history.
Right away after he replaced former Bruins head coach Claude Julien on Valentine's Day 2017, Cassidy was a breath of fresh air. Julien was a great coach here for the most part but his act of the all-knowing hockey dictator had gotten old for the players, fans and media. Bruce is refreshingly honest which in pro sports (and especially in the same region as Bill Belichick) becomes more rare to come by each day. He's a youthful 54 years old (5 years younger than Claude), has young kids like many of the players and he appears to be able to relate to them very well. Most importantly, he has brought results as guys clearly enjoy playing for him. Of course, putting a Stanley Cup on his resume would have allowed him to advance to another level. However, this contract gives him job security which is all that anyone ever wants.
Once again, the B's should be in the mix for the top teams in the East and the National Hockey League in general this season. On the player side, the next order of business for Boston is to lock up their two young franchise defensemen-Charlie McAvoy (who is 21) and Brandon Carlo (who is 22)-who are both restricted free agents. The always helpful CapFriendly.com website (formerly CapGeek) projects the Bruins to only have about $7.2 million left in cap space so it'll take some creative maneuvering by GM Don Sweeney to figure out how to pay those players what they are worth while not forcing them to holdout. I would normally worry about it more but Sweeney went to Harvard and I didn't (you probably weren't an Ivy Leaguer either) so let's trust the smart people to figure this all out.
The six-game (why is it that long?) preseason begins next Monday in New Jersey followed by two more road games in Philadelphia and Chicago before three straight home games at TD Garden against the same opponents starting on Monday, September 23. Preseason hockey is no different than any other sport, it's a complete bore so before you fall asleep, let me leave you with this: the Bruins open for real on October 3 in Dallas (8:30, NESN) vs. Tyler Seguin & Co. Boston has a four-game road trip to start this campaign, taking them from Arizona to Vegas to Colorado before the home opener on Saturday, October 12 vs. New Jersey (7, NESN). The Ducks come to town for the annual Columbus Day afternoon game (1, NESN) and the Lightning are here for an early-season showdown on October 17 (7, NESN).
Enjoy the warm weather while it fleetingly lasts but remember that the grind that is an NHL season is right around the corner and that's something to always be excited about, especially with a loaded and likeable group such as this one.
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