標籤: Bruce

Phoenix – Typically, the Vegas Golden Knights make headlines with a blockbuster trade or signing. This time, it’s a change in coaching – in March.

On Sunday, March 29, the Golden Knights fired coach Bruce Cassidy with only eight games remaining in the regular season. The team had lost six of its last seven games and are in third place in the Pacific Division with 82 points and a 33–26–16 record. The Golden Knights hold a six-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings, one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

As a result of the change, the Golden Knights hired veteran coach John Tortorella. The 67-year-old has extensive experience, having previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers and now the Golden Knights. He is contracted for the remainder of the season.

With the move coming just 20 days before the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the question becomes: Who is to blame – or even better – is there anyone to blame?

Who is to blame for the Golden Knights coaching change?

Cassidy had been at the helm in Las Vegas since the summer of 2022 and led the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup in 2023. With the work he’s done with the Golden Knights, him being let go was a surprise to most people, but that’s the senseless way the Golden Knights operate.

The Ontario, Canada native went 178-99-43 over four regular seasons, the fifth-best record in the NHL during that span. He also recorded 24 playoff wins with the Golden Knights, which ranked fourth in the league.

It’s easy to point the finger at Cassidy, and while he’s not innocent, he’s not at fault for the Golden Knights’ poor play. The Golden Knights’ goaltending has arguably been the worst in the NHL this season.

Beyond goaltending, questions remain about the roster. The core – Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl, Shea Theodore, Jack Eichel and Mitch Marner – is aging, which creates concerns about long-term production and whether the group can maintain its level of play. As the lineup ages, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain the pace and consistency that defined the Golden Knights’ success last season.

Still, there’s an argument to be made that the Golden Knights have performed poorly compared to their talent. Despite a roster filled with high-level skill, the team has often struggled to establish momentum, often falling behind early in games.

Making matters more complicated, they don’t have the capital or pool of high-end prospects ready to step in. Their next first-round pick isn’t until 2028, and while 2024 first-rounder Trevor Conley is in the system, they don’t have a wealth of blue-chip prospects to help offset any declines at the NHL level.

What about general manager Kelly McCrimmon?

With that said, it’s worth examining general manager Kelly McCrimmon, whose roster construction and long-term decisions hold just as much importance as Cassidy’s coaching. McCrimmon has shaped the roster, salary cap structure and overall depth.

To some extent and on paper, they have achieved tremendous success. The Golden Knights are known for making bold moves via trades, and while several have paid off, recent deals have not made as much of an impact as in the past.

“We thank Bruce Cassidy for his dedication to our hockey club and community over the past four seasons,” McCrimmon said via Twitter/x. “Under Bruce’s leadership, we reached our ultimate goal by bringing the Stanley Cup to Vegas in 2023. Bruce will always be remembered with the utmost respect by our organization for what he accomplished here. With the extension of the 2025-26 regular season, we believe a change is necessary for us to return to the level of play expected of our club. With John Tortorella, we are returning a Stanley Cup champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches. “His guidance will be a great asset to our team at the critical point we are currently facing.”

Much of the blame for the investigation will likely fall on McCrimmon. Relinquishing Cassidy is a high-risk move, and if it backfires, it will have consequences for the front office. Whether or not changes occur, poor performance in the playoffs could lead to management, coaches and players being moved in the offseason.

So far, the move has paid off, as the Golden Knights defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Monday night to pick up Tortorella’s first win with the team.

The Golden Knights continue their homestand on Thursday, April 2 against the Calgary Flames. Whether the coaching change will pay off will become clear in the coming weeks.

Cooper Krigbaum is a beat reporter covering the Vegas Golden Knights for Vegas Hockey Now on SportsNut. He also told about Cooper Krigbaum

Will the New Jersey Devils need a new head coach at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season? A shocking firing this weekend has now made the head coach a hot name on the free agency market, one that could certainly tempt general manager Tom Fitzgerald.

The Vegas Golden Knights fired Bruce Cassidy on Sunday despite the team’s playoff position and his longtime success with the organization. In a shocking turn of events he is replaced by John Tortorella.

In his Vegas tenure, Cassidy has boasted an incredible 178–99–43 record (fifth most in that span), 24 playoff wins (fourth most), two Pacific Division titles and one Stanley Cup.

It’s easy to see why Cassidy might only be unemployed for a short period of time.

However, the season is not over, and the Devils still employ Sheldon Keefe.

How long will this continue? It’s really anyone’s guess, but Fitzgerald revealed at the height of the New Jersey clashes in January that he and Keef are “in lockstep,” and despite fan opinion, there’s no reason to believe Fitzgerald’s in the hot seat.

Still, in a situation where the Devils decide to move on from Keefe, is Cassidy the Devils’ best option?

On the surface, his Vegas resume is certainly attractive. However, zooming the lens a little more may prove otherwise.

In Vegas, Cassidy relied on an elite defensive blueline and strong goaltending en route to winning the Stanley Cup. They didn’t have a lot of elite talent other than Jack Eichel and 60% Mark Stone.

Add in the fact that Cassidy’s style runs counter to New Jersey’s strengths, you can imagine the Devils could look similar for the majority of 2025-26.

Cassidy’s system is generally simple. Chip pucks behind the defense, win puck battles, and try for goals. The defense, meanwhile, relies on goaltending to outscore the opposition – although that has been a struggle for Vegas this season.

However, the Devils are a high speed and skill team that thrives on hustle.

Just look at how the Devils have performed this season. In the first 17 games when Jack Hughes was healthy, New Jersey compiled a 12–4–1 record and played a more open style. After Jack’s injury in November, the system took off on itself, becoming less about speed and skill and more about defensive structure. Like Vegas, New Jersey’s goaltending—particularly Jacob Markstrom—did not hold up.

Still, after the Olympic break, the Devils’ system has reopened. This was due to Jack’s return to form as his arm is back to 100%. Keefe also noted after Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks that Luke Hughes’ improved play in the latter half of the year is another obvious factor.

“Since coming back from the Olympic break, we’ve been focusing a lot on our game on sprinting and things like that,” Keefe said. “I looked at it the other day and one of the things that drives the game in the crowd is the controlled entries and the momentum coming from the neutral zone. Jack leads our team by a country mile on individual entries since the Olympic break, and indeed that will be the case throughout the season. But Jack is also perfect in assisting others in moving the game from the crowd and controlled entries.

“Luke is there too. [Jack] And Luke is on another level than everyone else. That’s a statistical way of looking at it. What those guys can bring in terms of getting our offense moving, and when we get both of them healthy and feeling good, we look pretty much like we are, OK, there’s a lot of focus on how we’ve improved offensively here over these 16 games. Go back and look at the previous 17 games when Jack got hurt, and it looks pretty much the same.”

Hiring Cassidy would continue the move away from who the Devils are. In fact, credit goes to Keefe where it’s due. He has brought them back to that style of play.

Maybe it’s too late, but they’re at it again, and it’s clearly working with 10 wins in their last 14 games.

So, will Cassidy be an upgrade behind the bench in New Jersey? Maybe on paper. However, it’s very possible that Keefe is doing enough to save his job at the end of the season.

After all, he’s not wrong when he says that when we look at the Devils’ performance before Jack’s injury in November and after the Olympic break. Everything in between was injury-related chaos that may not impact Keefe.

We’ll see what the offseason brings, but proceed with caution with Cassidy. In fact, don’t be surprised if the current Devils regime gets its last blow in 2026-27.

James is the fully certified New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on SportsNote and … More about James Nicholls

在洛杉磯公羊隊肖恩·麥克維手下學習了三年後，邁克·拉弗勒爾加入了這個自稱為亞利桑那紅雀隊主教練的小兄弟會。

在討論拉弗勒爾作為球隊第 44 任主教練領導該組織的前景時，同一血統中的第 40 號主教練布魯斯·阿里安斯 (Bruce Arians) 對這位 38 歲的教練表示支持，並指出他看起來像是一個“真正明亮” 年輕人。

“是的，我認為他是一個非常聰明、聰明、聰明的年輕人，”阿里安斯指出。 “他一直和肖恩·麥克維在一起，如果你和肖恩·麥克維在一起，你就會得到一份主教練的工作。就是這樣。這就是現在的情況。所以，如果你和肖恩在一起，喝過一杯咖啡，你就會得到一份主教練的工作。”

阿里安斯將注意力轉向拉弗勒爾今年秋天為紅雀隊打電話的願望，他在紐約噴氣機隊確實做到了這一點，但在公羊隊卻沒有這樣做，阿里安斯指出，他最好有好的助手在身邊，因為在 NFL 中很難同時擔任兩個職位。

“這真的非常非常困難，”阿里安斯指出。 “打電話和成為主教練，這是雙重困難。你知道，一個人要扮演兩個角色。如果你能做到的話，上帝保佑你，因為這並不容易……有一個你真正信任的防守者。在特殊球隊中，因為你沒有時間指導這些人中的任何一個。”

和阿里安斯一樣，勒弗勒爾來到亞利桑那州時已經在 NFL 頂級進攻球隊之一工作過。希望勒弗勒爾也能帶領紅雀隊進入季后賽，因為自從他離開城鎮後，在阿里安斯領導下的三屆政府中，球隊從未達到過同樣的成功水平。

以前的 #AZ紅雀隊 主教練布魯斯·阿里安斯 (Bruce Arians) 談論新紅雀隊 HC 麥克·拉弗勒 (Mike LaFleur) 的情況，以及據報導他決定召集比賽並擔任主教練。 @12體育AZ

“認為他是一個真正聰明的年輕人……如果你和肖恩（麥克維）在一起並（和他）喝了一杯咖啡，你就會頭腦清醒…… pic.twitter.com/9E5a9rkyTJ

— 卡梅倫·考克斯 (@CamCox12) 2026 年 2 月 3 日