It's been two and a half years since Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney fired Bruce Cassidy, out of nowhere as his coach. It was in June of 2022 when he cut ties with the fiery and former James Adams Award winner in a stunning move.
Since that afternoon, Cassidy was quickly picked up by the Vegas Golden Knights to be their next head coach and he promptly led them to a Stanley Cup in his first season there in 2022-23. That just so happens to be the season where the Bruins set the NHL record for wins and points in a regular season, before being bounced in seven games in the first round of the playoffs by the Florida Panthers.
This season, the Golden Knights are well on their way to another appearance in the postseason while Boston is in big trouble of missing out on the Eastern Conference playoffs. Currently on the outside looking in, the Black and Gold face what could be considered a must-win Saturday afternoon at the TD Garden against Cassidy and Vegas. If not, then their trade deadline path in a month might become more clear.
Bruce Cassidy a chance to the do the funniest thing to the Bruins and Don Sweeney
If there was ever a chance for Cassidy to get some revenge on Sweeney and his former team, it's Saturday. A loss, especially in regulation and the Bruins hole in a jammed-pack wild-card race would get more dire. Let's face it, there is a real possibility that the Black and Gold are headed for a retool sooner rather than later.
Now a loss by the Bruins wouldn't eliminate them by any means, however, a loss combined with other teams getting points of any kind would make the Bruins' hole that much harder to climb out of after the two-week 4 Nations Face-Off break. A loss would have to point the front office in Boston to a retool and realize that it isn't their year. If by any chance they get into the postseason, are they even going to win a round, or even a game at this point?
Cassidy has a chance to put the Bruins in a position that they don't want to be in as some type of seller at the trade deadline on March 7 and you can bet, on the inside, that he would take a lot of joy in doing that Saturday afternoon at his old stomping grounds.