Bruce Cassidy coached eight teams in five leagues before getting the Golden Knights’ job Tuesday. “Bruce’s path was intriguing for us,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said.
Ben Gotz
Golden Knights backup reporter
Email: bgotz@reviewjournal.com
X: @BenSGotz
Ben Gotz came to the Review-Journal in May 2016 after graduating from the University of Minnesota. He covers the Lights FC, high school sports and anything else sports-related that comes into town. He also hosts segments in the video studio on soccer and high school sports. Before coming to Las Vegas, he wrote about college hockey, college football and high school sports during stops at the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press and Minnesota Daily back home in Minnesota.
In a salary cap move, the Golden Knights traded forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday for the contract of defenseman Shea Weber.
Bruce Cassidy, fired by the Boston Bruins on June 6, said the decision to take the Golden Knights’ coaching job from a hockey standpoint was a “no-brainer.”
Bruce Cassidy, hired as the Golden Knights’ coach Tuesday, never had a points percentage below .652 in his six seasons with the Boston Bruins.
The Golden Knights on Tuesday named Bruce Cassidy the third coach in franchise history. He coached the Boston Bruins for parts of the past six seasons before being fired June 6.
The number of coaching vacancies grew by one last week after the Boston Bruins fired Bruce Cassidy, adding more competition as the Golden Knights look to replace Pete DeBoer.
The Golden Knights got a long look at many of their prospects this season because of injuries. They used a team-record 39 players, many of them call-ups from Henderson.
Former Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant and fan favorite Ryan Reaves are with the New York Rangers, and ex-Knight Pierre-Edouard Bellemare plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Injuries played a major factor in the Golden Knights missing the NHL playoffs for the first time. But so did inconsistency and poor stretches of play.
The Golden Knights are projected to be more than $500,000 over the salary cap’s $82.5 million limit with their current roster, so expect to see changes.
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone had surgery Thursday in the hopes of fixing the back issue that caused him to miss more than half of last season.
Golden Knights goaltender Logan Thompson is still playing with Team Canada at the World Championship in Finland and came up with a highlight save Monday.
The Golden Knights will have options when looking for their next coach, beginning perhaps with Barry Trotz. There are plenty of experienced candidates on the market.
Pete DeBoer lasted less than three full seasons as coach, leading the Golden Knights to two NHL playoff berths before missing out after an injury-ravaged season.
The Golden Knights noticed that other teams were openly rooting against them by the end of the NHL season. They’re planning to use that as fuel.
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