Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy: ‘I just want my name on the damn Cup’
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 29: Head coach Bruce Cassidy of the Boston Bruins speaks to the media following his teams 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game Two of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on May 29, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
One win away from the first Stanley Cup of his coaching career, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy isn’t worrying about his legacy.
In fact, Cassidy has just one goal in tonight’s winner-take-all Game 7 at TD Garden.
“We use that word (legacy) around here, but I think it’s for much later, so I haven’t thought about mine personally,” Cassidy said. “I just want my name on the damn Cup, that’s what I want, and then you can talk about it however you want later on.”
He may not want to talk about it the morning of a Game 7, but Cassidy’s journey is an undeniably interesting one.
From a career-ending knee injury as a first-round pick that never quite panned out to his two-season run with the Capitals, to years in the minors as the head coach of the P-Bruins, Cassidy arrived back on the NHL scene as an in-season replacement for the franchise’s all-time winningest coach in Claude Julien. Since then, he’s led the Bruins to one of the top records in all of hockey, and is now just one victory away from hockey’s ultimate prize.
But Cassidy doesn’t think that makes him different than any other coach or player vying for Game 7 glory.
“I’ve answered questions about my first coaching gig in the NHL. It was a long time ago. I think those have been asked and answered. People grow as people; I’m no different,” Cassidy admitted. “As for your legacy I think that’s judged down the road. I talked to players about that a lot this year when you start the playoffs, certain players over the years about how they’re labeled.
“Probably talked to you guys about Torey [Krug] for example as an offensive defenseman how he always wanted to be talked about as a complete player and I think he’s done that in these playoffs, he’s shown he can defend against good players and still can keep up the offensive numbers. Brad Marchand how he entered the league as a bit of a pest and how he’s grown into an elite player.”
Game 7 of the Stanley (damn) Cup Final is shortly after 8 p.m.
