Boston Bruins Fire Claude Julien
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Bruins are making a change on their bench.
The Bruins have fired Claude Julien, the winningest coach in franchise history, the team announced on Tuesday. Assistant coach Bruce Cassidy will take over the team on an interim basis.
The team will hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, as the New England Patriots parade through the city of Boston to celebrate their latest Super Bowl championship. Cassidy will be available to the press at noon.
Julien guided the Bruins to a 419-246-94 record in his 10 seasons in Boston, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011 with a dramatic seven-game victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Julien led the Bruins to another Cup final in 2013, falling to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.
Julien surpassed Art Ross and became the team's all-time wins leader on March 7, 2016 picking up his 388th victory with the Bruins. He won the Jack Adams Trophy after the Bruins went 53-19-10 in the 2008-09 regular season, falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games in the conference semifinals.
But with his tenure on the bench reaching a decade and the team looking like they need a new voice to lead them, the Bruins felt it was time to move on from Julien. The Bruins are one point out of a playoff spot at the moment, after missing the postseason the last two seasons following late-season collapses.
The Bruins made the postseason in each of Julien's first seven seasons in Boston, advancing past the first round in five of those appearances. Julien finishes his Boston career with 11 postseason series wins and a 57-40 playoff record.
Cassidy was head coach of the Washington Capitals from 2002-04, getting dismissed in his second season on the bench after an 8-16-1 start to the year. He served as an assistant coach for the Providence Bruins in the AHL from 2008-11 before being promoted to head coach, a role he held for four seasons before becoming an assistant on the Boston bench this season. With the P-Bruins, Cassidy went 166-106-32 and guided them to the playoffs in each of his last three seasons on their bench.
Toucher & Rich react to Bruins firing of Claude Julien: