Fired Head Coach Bruce Cassidy Would be Great Hire for Blackhawks
With still yet another head coaching spot available, it may be a great move for Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson to hire Cassidy. He may not last long on the open market.
General manager Don Sweeney stated, "Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a [head-coaching] change," 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."
Cassidy had a great record with the Bruins during his six seasons behind the bench. He compiled a very respectable 245-108-46 record over 399 games.
He led the team to the playoffs every season, and even took them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
He may have left at a good time considering all the challenges the Boston club will face in the new season.
Top-pairing defenseman Charlie McAvoy underwent a left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization procedure in Boston last week and is expected to miss about six months. Defenseman Matthew Grzelcyk also underwent a right shoulder open-stabilization procedure and is expected to be out five months.
Also last month, the Bruins revealed that Brad Marchand will miss the beginning of the 2022-23 season following hip surgery.
Captain Patrice Bergeron, who just won a record fifth Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward, is an unrestricted free agent and is mulling retirement at age 36.
So, would Cassidy be able to face the fact that the Blackhawks are eyeing a rebuild? May not be as bad, huh? After all, he was the Jack Adams award winner for the NHL's top coach in 2020 and becomes a top candidate for vacancies in Philadelphia, Chicago, Winnipeg, Vegas and Detroit.
Yes, there's lots of head coaching gigs open this offseason. We will concentrate on him heading to the Windy City to coach the Blackhawks back to respectability. That means, of course, back to the playoffs in as speedy a transformation as possible.
He becomes (or should become) Davidson's main objective to right the ship in Chicago. His impeccable record speaks for itself.
The only question (and it's a BIG one) is will he want to take on the grief connected to rebuilding? We shall see. Davidson at least needs to see what Cassidy's feeling are on taking the position behind the Chicago bench.
There will be competition for his services, no doubt about it. One such club will most certainly be the Vegas Golden Knights. They seem to swing for the fences on things like this, and usually get their way.
In the end, with the Hawks doing this rebuild, will the challenge entice Cassidy's motivation to go for it?
We'll soon find out.
| POLL | ||
Should the Hawks go after newly fired head coach Bruce Cassidy? | ||
| ABSOLUTELY! | 77 | 58.8 % |
| NO, we should keep looking | 33 | 25.2 % |
| I need to think about this one | 21 | 16 % |
| List of polls | ||
