Golden Knights coach Cassidy talks about new team, lessons learned from Sutter and more

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One of the biggest shocks in the 2022 NHL off-season happened in June when the Boston Bruins fired head coach Bruce Cassidy after parts of six seasons in Beantown.

In his tenure, Cassidy led the Bruins to the playoffs six times, including the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, and is third all-time in franchise history in victories with a 245-108-46 regular-season record. 

The 57-year-old Ottawa product was quickly brought on by the Vegas Golden Knights to lead a team that many expect to be a force in the Pacific Division this season.

Cassidy chatted with TSN on Monday after a Golden Knights practice – his new team faces the Flames in Calgary on Tuesday night – about what he learned this summer, how coaches develop their craft and make on-ice improvements, and the lessons current Flames bench boss Darryl Sutter imparted on him more than 30 years ago.

TSN: Early on, you’re with a new team and perhaps trying to build a new culture and identity. How have you found Vegas so far?

Cassidy: Well, I mean the city’s different. I’ve never lived out west before. We’re East Coast people. I’m originally from Ottawa, wife’s from New Jersey, kids born in New England. That lifestyle change is different right away. The weather coming up, we’ll see. [I] won’t be shoveling any snow so that part will be a change. 

As for the team? Still getting to know them. They’re still getting to know me. Some of our staff, we’re still getting to know each other, so there’s a lot of newness going on right now. I think we’ve attacked it well during training camp. We had a plan in place how we want to play, how we want to teach, and so far I think we’ve hit a lot of those boxes and there’s gonna obviously be more learning curves as we go, but I