Amid rampant coaching changes, Bruce Cassidy’s job security remains rock solid

Seven NHL coaches have been relieved of their duties since November 20, an astonishing number.

As shown with the St. Louis Blues last season, teams can go from the bottom of the standings to lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup in a mere matter of months. With short-term progress desired, teams have decided to make coaching decisions before too many losing results accumulate and ultimately doom the 2019-20 campaign.

With well-respected coach Gerard Gallant, who led the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Cup Final in the team’s inaugural year, being replaced with former Sharks coach Peter DeBoer, speculation about nearly every team’s coach went unchecked on social media.

Given the Red Sox parting ways with Alex Cora, more manager/coaching news has been swirling around in Boston’s chilly winter breeze.

In what now seems like eons ago, the Bruins raced out to a league-leading start, showing no Stanley Cup hangover and steamrolling any team that dare get in their way. Over the last few weeks, however, secondary scoring has dissipated and consistent five-on-five scoring has been as big of a problem as a person lathered in steak sauce attempting to wrestle a hungry lion.

In spite of the ups and downs, Cassidy has still steered the team to a sterling 144-61-34 record, good for a .674 percentage. The team leads the Atlantic Division and ranks third in the league with a +31 goal differential. For crying out loud, the man had the Bruins sixty minutes from etching their names into the Cup’s silver and nickel alloy less than a year ago.

The fact that a couple rough games for the black and gold have sent onlookers to Twitter to call for Cassidy’s job is blasphemous. Ludicrous. Borderline worth tagging ‘Cold Takes Exposed’. Sure, coaching is a carousel; however, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Bruins “ain’t broke.” The Bruins remain a force among the league’s elite. Cassidy maximizes his players’ talents, unafraid to be candid with the media regarding an individual’s strengths yet also assured enough to sit players when he believes they aren’t bring their ‘A’ or ‘B’ game.

Whether it be mid-game or sending a player up to the ninth floor for a game or two, Cassidy’s unabashed but effective style lends itself well to Boston, as does his loquacious, charismatic and oddly relatable personality.

The fact that Cassidy doesn’t feel the need to turn the Bruins into an early-2000’s bruiser of a team doesn’t make him crazy, nor does it make him unqualified to remain coach. The fact that anyone has had the nerve to even suggest it boggles the mind.

Cassidy’s coaching credentials need not to be defended. His resume speaks for itself. Cassidy’s command of the locker room and Bruins’ first-rate results should keep him off of the hot seat for a long, long time.