Bruins fire head coach Bruce Cassidy

BOSTON -- Bruce Cassidy's time as head coach of the Boston Bruins has come to an end.

The team announced Monday evening that Cassidy had been relieved of his duties.

Cassidy originally took over as head coach in February of 2017, taking over for the fired Claude Julien.

In what was his second stint as an NHL head coach, Cassidy led the Bruins to a 245-108-46 regular-season record and a 36-37 postseason record, making the playoffs in all six of his seasons behind the Boston bench. The team reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, but lost at home to the St. Louis Blues.

This past season, the Bruins were eliminated in Game 7 of the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes.

In a press conference after the season, Bruins president Cam Neely said that GM Don Sweeney would return next season, but that the team was not yet committed to Cassidy. 

"Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a head coaching change," Sweeney said Monday. "After 14 years working with Bruce, this was an extremely difficult decision. I want to thank and acknowledge Bruce for all his work and success with the Bruins organization. His head coaching record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally. After taking some time to fully digest everything, I felt that the direction of our team for both this season and beyond would benefit from a new voice. I want to wish Bruce, Julie, Shannon and Cole much success as a family and with their future opportunities."

On Monday, Neely indicated that Sweeney would be leading the search for a new head coach.

"I have the utmost confidence in Don to conduct a thorough search to identify the best candidate that is going to help our team reach its full potential," Neely said.