Quick Hits: June 7, 2022
1) With the news that the Boston Bruins have fired Bruce Cassidy, there is one more potentially viable head coaching candidate to fill the Flyers' vacancy. The 57-year-old Cassidy, who coached the Bruins for six seasons, piloted the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018-19, won the Jack Adams Award (over Alain Vigneault) in 2019-20 and never had a lower points percentage in Boston than .652 (in both 2020-21 and 2021-22) would check a lot of the boxes that the Flyers seem to be looking for.
He is a no-nonsense hard-pushing coach, although not one to fly into rages on the bench. He insists his players play a responsible, detail-oriented style. Adherenence to structure and responsible off-puck play are a must but so is a swarming forechecking and quick breakout with an emphasis on getting through the neutral zone with pace. There's nothing revolutionary about his systems but he has a track record of getting strong buy-in.
The 2019 playoff run, which ultimate saw the Bruins fall one win short in the Stanley Cup Final against St. Louis, was a good example of Cassidy's ability to make between-series, between-games and in-game adjustments. Over the first three rounds, the Bruins encountered three teams with different styles -- a highly skilled and attack-oriented Toronto Maple Leafs' team, a Columbus Blue Jackets team (coached by John Tortorella) that had a grinding. shot-blocking identity and Rod Brind'Amour high-speed, retrieval and transition-oriented Carolina Hurricanes.
Between the AHL's Providence Bruins and the parent club in Boston, Cassidy spent 14 years coaching in the Bruins' organization. Prior to that, a 37-year-old Cassidy spent one-plus season as the Washington Capitals head coach during an era that the Capitals were still a bottom-feeding team. He was succeeded by Glen Hanlon some 25 games in the 2003-04 season.
In 2018, Cassidy was asked what he'd learned over his coaching career that he wishes in hindsight he could have told the younger version of himself. He answered immediately.
"I've learned treat my players as people first and players second," he said.
Apart from his renowned hockey intelligence and holding his players accountable for a high standard of play, "Butch" is well-liked off the ice. He's an outgoing type with a good sense of humor and a reputation for honesty. He and wife Julie have two children.
2) In this week's edition of Mondays with Meltzer on the Flyers Daily Podcast, Jason Myretetus and I did one of our periodic "Ask Billy" segments in which we tackle questions submitted by the podcast listeners. We had a lot of questions this time, so the episode is being broken into two parts. Part one is available here. Part two will run on Wednesday.
3) Today in Flyers History: June 7, 1997
The Detroit Red Wings completed a four-game sweep of the Flyers in the 1997 Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 win at Joe Louis Arena in Game 4 of the series. A late-game goal by Eric Lindros (his lone goal and third point in the series) served as the lone Philadelphia tally.