On verge of Stanley Cup, Bruce Cassidy keeping clear perspective on his firing from Bruins

BOSTON -- One year removed from the Boston Bruins firing him as head coach, Bruce Cassidy is now just two wins away from winning a Stanley Cup.

Going from that low of a low to this close to the highest of highs in such a short period can certainly be cause for some emotional whiplash. Despite that dizzying position, Cassidy isn't using his current run with the Golden Knights as a vehicle to share or spread any spite toward the organization that deemed him no longer good enough last spring.

"You take it a bit personal, right, but I know the circumstances," Cassidy told The Athletic's Jesse Granger. "[The Bruins] did a good job of changing some things. We changed some things here that helped the Knights. [Former Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer] changed things in Dallas that helped the Stars. You can't beat yourself up over it. Coaches move. I got an opportunity there because a very good coach in Claude Julien got let go, so that's just the way it works."

Cassidy did admit that he was not upset to see the Bruins flame out early in the playoffs after a historically successful regular season, though he said those feelings were more tied to his children than himself.

"I was a little relieved after [the Bruins] lost in the playoffs for my kids not having to hear about 'Oh, if your dad had done a better job ... ' You know what I mean? Kids say things," Cassidy told Granger. "I think of my kids every day, because if they're happy I'm happy, and if they're sad I'm sad. I was so relieved from that point, for them."

While Cassidy seems to have a healthy perspective on the way his tenure in Boston ended, he also admitted to carrying some lingering pain from the Bruins' Game 7 loss at home in the Stanley Cup Final to the Blues in 2019. Surely, that figures to be a motivating factor as he tries to get his Golden Knights across the finish line this time around.

"I took it hard. It was tough, and even to this day it stings when you get that close," he said. "You go all the way to Game 7, with your home crowd. I [lived] in Boston and people are disappointed. They let you know. They're proud of their team, but they're like 'C'mon.'"