Bruins fire Bruce Cassidy: Don Sweeney calls move ‘extremely difficult decision’

Turns out Bruce Cassidy is taking the fall for Boston’s first-round exit.

The Bruins announced that they’d fired their coach in a statement on Monday night. Cassidy was 245-108-46 behind Boston’s bench and the Bruins never missed the playoffs in his six seasons at the helm, making it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019 and falling one win short of a championship.

The team said the search for a new head coach would begin immediately.

“Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a head coaching change,” general manager Don Sweeney said in a statement. “After 14 years working with Bruce, this was an extremely difficult decision. I want to thank and acknowledge Bruce for all his work and success with the Bruins organization. His head coaching record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally. After taking some time to fully digest everything, I felt that the direction of our team for both this season and beyond would benefit from a new voice. I want to wish Bruce, Julie, Shannon and Cole much success as a family and with their future opportunities.”

Team president Cam Neely expressed confidence in Sweeney to find Cassidy’s successor.

“I want to thank Bruce for his time and service to the Boston Bruins organization over the last 14 years,” Neely said. “Bruce has been a fantastic coach and has helped this team win many games and achieve success over his tenure behind the bench. I also want to extend my gratitude to Bruce and his family for everything they’ve done over the years to support the New England community and Bruins organization. We wish them continued success in the future.”

“I have the utmost confidence in Don to conduct a thorough search to identify the best candidate that is going to help our team reach its full potential.”

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