Bruce Cassidy speaks to media for first time since firing
Former Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy met with the media for the first time since being fired by the club on Monday evening.
Cassidy met with reporters via Zoom, wearing a Boston Celtics shirt, and he appeared emotional, opening with:
"First off, I just want to thank the city of Boston and Bruins fans for all their support over the years."
Cassidy reiterated that the firing caught him by surprise and that he has nothing but love for the Boston Bruins organization:
"I had term on my deal, and I wanted to come back and coach the Bruins ... The Bruins is basically tattooed to me. That's the difficult part. I feel I did my job. We can always get better; we can always be better [as coaches] 2019 still bothers me to this day. Did I still want to be here? Yes."
Cassidy says the message in his end-of-year meetings was:
"Status quo."
(Was under the impression he would be coaching next season on the final year of his deal).
"[My] messaging wasn't being received or wasn't being communicated the right way."
"I don't think you have much of a team if players aren't held accountable."
"I don't think there was a huge breakdown in communication."
(Was under the impression he would be coaching next season on the final year of his deal).
"[My] messaging wasn't being received or wasn't being communicated the right way."
"I don't think you have much of a team if players aren't held accountable."
"I don't think there was a huge breakdown in communication."
One of the narratives was that Cassidy didn't handle the younger players well, but he insisted that was never the case in his eyes:
"I'm very proud of my record with young guys. I think what happens is when you're a team that's contending for the Stanley Cup, there's not much room on the roster."
"[I have to] be mindful of messaging while still holding players accountable."
"[I have to] be mindful of messaging while still holding players accountable."
He clearly didn't want to get into if he believes that he was just being scapegoated or the guy to take the blame:
"I don't know. You guys will have to determine that."
He was asked if he'll coach next year if a team comes calling:
"Absolutely. This is what I do."
His final words of the meeting with the media had nothing to do with the Bruins as he said:
"I want Brad and Ime to get the title. They look great, and The Cassidy family is behind them 100 percent. Go Celtics."
SOURCES: Ty Anderson (@_TyAnderson), Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93), Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) and Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) on Twitter.
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