Bruins' GM Allegedly Pushed to Retain Cassidy But Was Overruled by Cam Neely
The story of the week has been Bruce Cassidy's impromptu dismissal from the Boston Bruins. After 5 fairly successful, albeit not totally successful, seasons as Bruins' head coach, Cassidy is now seeking alternative employment plans. Much has been said about GM Don Sweeney & President Cam Neely & their performance as of late. Dating back to the 2015 draft, they do have quite a bit to answer for, no question.
Jim Murphy of Boston Hockey Now, upon gathering all necessary information, has a theory that--if accurate--is a significant development.
Per Murphy, Neely 'railroaded' Cassidy after Sweeney fought to retain him as head coach. If true, it is a telling tidbit offering a glimpse into the inner workings of the Bruins organization. While Murphy expresses that this is a matter of opinion, it does add up. Neely has a history of making moves of this nature, and any Bruins fan will tell you this is something he would do. Moreover, it somewhat absolves Sweeney from this decision & makes him a sort of sympathetic figure. Imagine having to begrudgingly fire someone because your boss forced you to do so. Pretty whack, to use the parlance of our times.
This does leave the Bruins in a pickle as well because on top of sorting out their player-related issues, they now need a head coach. Patrice Bergeron is a UFA & his career is in jeopardy, Brad Marchand & Charlie McAvoy both require surgery that will prevent them from playing until Christmas, and they have less than $3 million to work with this summer. The only sensible justification for the move is that, all things considered, Neely believes the best course of action for the health of the team is to tank for Connor Bedard or Matvei Michkov. Given the state of the Bruins' roster, that kind of makes sense. But if they are going to do that, will Boston's top players be on board? Or is a full-blown rebuild imminent in Boston?
| POLL | ||
JUIN 10 | 223 ANSWERS Bruins' GM Allegedly Pushed to Retain Cassidy But Was Overruled by Cam Neely Would you tank for Bedard/Michkov? | ||
| Yes | 114 | 51.1 % |
| No | 109 | 48.9 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||