NHL Source On Boston Bruins: “Inmates Are Running The Asylum”

Inside minutes after the Boston Bruins asserting the firing of head coach Bruce Cassidy final Monday evening, bewilderment, curiosity and naturally rumors, unfold like wildfire across the NHL.

“What the hell simply occurred?” one NHL govt supply wrote in a textual content to Boston Hockey Now simply minutes after the Boston Bruins launched a press launch and statements from Bruins basic supervisor Don Sweeney and crew president Cam Neely.

Everybody was conscious of Neely’s important feedback on Cassidy in his finish of the season media session.

“I believe now we have to take a look at making some modifications so far as how we play,” Neely stated when requested in regards to the standing of Cassidy for the 2022-23 season. “I believe Bruce is a unbelievable coach. He’s introduced a variety of success to this group. I like him as a coach. So we’ll see the place it goes, however I do suppose we have to make some modifications.”

That being stated, many took his critique of Cassidy as simply the standard blunt and emotional Neely. Nevertheless, his subsequent feedback concerning Cassidy and his teaching fashion proved to be probably the most telling and seemingly had been foreshadowing the dismissal of Cassidy.

“There’s no query gamers are afraid to make errors, particularly youthful gamers, as a result of, you realize, you hear about it,” when requested if the youth on the Boston Bruins lineup are afraid to make errors beneath Cassidy?

“And I used to be a type of gamers that, you realize, I needed to be taught and develop. And I heard about it, too. And I made errors as a youthful participant. However you possibly can’t fear about not getting again on the market. I believe that’s one of many issues now we have to type of change. I believe when youthful gamers make errors, they’re nervous they’re not going to play the following sport whereas that sport continues to be happening.”

Cassidy, after being assured he was coming again was then fired final Monday.

Since then, there have been a number of studies and rumors of youthful gamers on the crew letting or not it’s recognized to crew administration that they didn’t respect the way in which Cassidy dealt with struggling younger gamers. As is the case when stuff like this involves mild, a few of this stems from bitter grapes and a few has some validity to it. What’s been extra fascinating although is what a couple of supply has indicated to BHN concerning how gamers, younger and outdated, communicated this to Neely greater than Sweeney.

“Look it’s no secret how tight Bruce and Don Sweeney had been,” a trusted NHL supply informed BHN not too long ago. “From what I hear, the gamers’ points with Bruce fell on deaf ears with Sweeney so that they took it to Neely. I’ve heard Neely and Cassidy didn’t all the time see eye to eye and perhaps that’s all he wanted to justify firing him? Who is aware of? However that’s what it appears like.”

One other supply who heard related info had this to say:

“If that’s true, that’s not good as a result of now inmates are operating the asylum and the GM is getting undermined too.”

When talking to the media after Cassidy was fired, Sweeney vehemently denied such a idea.

“They’re not driving the bus by way of making my selections,” Sweeney stated of the gamers.

He additionally introduced it as if the firing was his choice and didn’t come from above.

“The timing after taking just a few weeks to unpack, a variety of issues occurred over the course of the yr and the place I assumed the path of our crew was presently and equally with among the surgical procedures and among the issues popping out the place our crew was going to be going ahead and impacting our membership, I simply felt that the messaging and voice that was going to be required, I felt we would have liked a brand new path,” Sweeney stated.

Nevertheless, what he stated subsequent was relatively fascinating to say the least:

“I had met with the teaching workers like I usually do to go over not solely the yr and their feeling of the place our crew was and what we had been able to reaching. After which I met with Bruce afterwards as effectively speaking about his workers. At that time limit, he had decided that Kevin Dean wasn’t going to be prolonged. We had talks through the course of the yr about he and Kevin and their relationship, all people was conscious that there was a little bit friction there in some unspecified time in the future in time. They received previous that and went again to work as each of them as professionals and I believe have a protracted historical past.

Then I simply went again to work and speaking with our group, scouts, administration, definitely possession, and simply made a transparent choice that it wanted to vary and that’s the place I arrived yesterday afternoon.”

The truth that Sweeney allowed Cassidy to fireplace an assistant and start to form his teaching workers for the 2022-23 season however then fired him two weeks later left one NHL Government baffled.

“That’s simply unusual,” he informed BHN. “One thing isn’t proper there.”

When Bruce Cassidy broke his silence on Thursday and addressed the media in a Zoom name, he indicated Sweeney informed him he was secure and that he was utterly caught off guard when Sweeney got here to his home to ship the dangerous information.

“I used to be beneath the belief [I’d be back] and getting ready for [next season]. However you’re all the time on the clock as a coach,” Cassidy stated. “It did catch me without warning and [Sweeney] defined his course of. I respect what he does as a GM. Donny was very respectful. I don’t agree with it; I need to be coach of the Boston Bruins. However I’m on to the following problem and hopefully I could be profitable.”

From the skin, it seems Cassidy received railroaded by some disgruntled gamers and by Neely. Proper now, that doesn’t appear to be sitting effectively throughout the NHL group.