Bruce Cassidy went on the record this week and said he ‘absolutely, 100 percent’ wanted to be back as the Boston Bruins head coach, and now he is.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced Wednesday morning that Cassidy will become the team’s permanent head coach for the 2017-2018 season, becoming the 28th in Bruins franchise history.
Cassidy was hired as an assistant coach back in May 2016. He took over head coaching duties from Claude Julian in February after a sluggish start to the 2016-2017.
Under Cassidy, the Bruins closed out the season with a 18-8-1 record, leading the NHL in goals per game during that stretch. This period was also enough for them to clinch third place in the Atlantic Division and their first post season berth since 2013-14.
Cassidy’s work, despite a first-round 4-2 series loss to the Ottawa Senators, in the latter half of the regular season was good enough to turn the Bruins season around and earn him his keep as head coach for the near future.
The former NHL defenseman broke into the league as a coach in 2002-04, leading the Washington Capitols for a little over a season. He joined the Bruins organization in 2008 as an assist coach of the Providence Bruins, a position he held for three seasons, before being promoted to head coach in 2011-12 until the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
