Bruce Cassidy brings Stanley Cup to Milton to help launch the Cassidy Murray Foundation
MILTON -- Bruce Cassidy would have loved to have brought the Stanley Cup to Massachusetts as head coach of the Bruins. Instead, he did so Thursday after leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a title in his first year on the bench, and he did it to raise awareness for a special cause.
Cassidy brought the Cup to Glover Elementary School with the family of Cassidy Murray, who died while on vacation with her parents in Aruba in March 2022. The event helped launch the Cassidy Murray Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to expanding educational opportunities and supporting the mental health needs of individuals and families navigating unthinkable tragedy.
"There were a lot of people involved putting this together. I just brought the Cup," Cassidy told the crowd Thursday morning.
His daughter, Shannon Cassidy, was friends and classmates with Murray at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge. Murray died in a tragic tubing accident, and her parents have been fighting for Aruba to enact reforms on recreational boating safety in the island nation.
"There's no 101 on how to deal with this, but we have the resources now and people behind us," said David Murray. "That's what people need, because the last thing you can do on the first day of being thrown into this is figuring all that out."
Fans were given a chance to take pictures with and touch the Stanley Cup at the event. But Cassidy made it clear that in order to pick up the most famous trophy in sports, you have to win it.
That's exactly what he did in his first year with Vegas, leading the Golden Knights to the franchise's first title. It came less than a year after Cassidy was fired by the Bruins.
"It was sweet because I'm 58 and I've been trying to win the Cup since I turned pro. That's what made it the most sweet," Cassidy said Thursday. "To do it once you get let go, everyone will tell you it's a good feeling. But that's further down the list."
Cassidy had led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, but the team lost a heartbreaking Game 7 at TD Garden to the St. Louis Blues. While Bruins fans still feel the pain of that defeat, Cassidy has enjoyed some relief thanks to his title with the Golden Knights.
"Absolutely. It heals the scar a little bit. It will never go away because you can't get it back. But now at least you're in the club," he said.
"I would have loved to do it here," Cassidy added. "This was my team growing up as a kid. I've loved the Bruins my whole life and I would have loved to have done it here, but it didn't work out that way."
After Thursday's event to help the Murray family, Cassidy and his family -- and the Stanley Cup -- are now off to Cape Cod for another public event. The Cup will stay in Massachusetts on Friday, as North Chelmsford native Jack Eichel will spend his day with the trophy at his childhood rink, Skate 3 in Tyngsboro.
