Why Bruce Cassidy was able to be successful in Vegas. What made Bruins’ players grow tired of Cassidy? And could Cassidy have led the 2023 Bruins farther than Jim Montgomery?
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6 Comments
Bridgette absolutely nailed it on her point about the goalies. I’ve been saying the same things myself for weeks. Why would both Bruce and Monty refuse to go to their capable backups when their goalies were obviously hobbled? Then Bruce wins a Cup with his third stringer in LV. That says to me there’s an organizational culture issue where the Bs are more inclined to play players based on past performance and standing than on their health at the time. On that same note, why play a guy with a herniated disc when your up 3-1 in round 1? I think it’s arguable that move also help cost the Bs the series as he was a minus 6 in 3 games. To me it looks like the Bs are too busy selling a product rather than actually trying to win a Cup.
Bruce would have pulled injured Ullmark. That would have gotten us past Panthers and then we would have beaten Toronto. Not sure we would have beaten Vegas if we'd gotten that far.
Using Brian's standards that means 31 teams have a problem with their players since they didn't win the cup. The Bruins won 65 games this year, an NHL record. They don't do that with Cassidy. Do they get out of the first round with Cassidy? Maybe, maybe not. Remember, Cassidy is the one who refused to take Rask out and play Swayman against the Islanders, and Rask was the biggest reason they lost. Montgomery made the same mistake in these playoffs.
Hey Brian, get your head out of your rear. This "locker room" made the finals 3 times, winning it once. Only Tampa, Pittsburg and maybe Chicago can claim as much success. Could they have won more? Maybe. Who knows? Cassidy won a cup with another team, get over it.
Of course the Bruins are soft, their roster is filled with US college players and European players. The skill is there but the hunger to win at all costs is missing. No one is addressing the real issue. The basic structure of the team, not enough Canadian players.
Brian is hard on the bruins ha ha, as a die hard bruins fan so am i, we will have a much different team next year so time will tell how Monty does without all the fire power
The first round loss is definitely on the players; they lost despite being given a team that should have won. I do not think keeping Cassidy would have been the answer. Sweeney gave us the deepest, most talented team since the late 60s/early 70s. Montgomery coached the team to perfection in the regular season. The players failed to get the job done in the playoffs; they had the best regular season in history, but the team didn't play with the confident desperation (yes, that's a thing!) needed to go all the way in the playoffs. This next year wil say a lot about the soul of the team. Are Pasta and McAvoy up to the roles of being gritty leaders? I think they are, but I could be wrong.
This is the best Bruins podcast out there! Thank you all for all the thoughtful disussion about my favorite team since I was 5 years old and Bobby Orr was my hero. I do bleed Black and Gold, but I am realistic (Cup next year!!).