標籤: Cassidy

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

After a convincing win without their five best offensive players on Wednesday, the Vegas Golden Knights should have been boosted by their return. Instead, they came out flat on Friday and fell behind by three in the second period. Ultimately, despite a comeback bid they lost 3–2 to the Washington Capitals.

The cracks began to appear early in the first period when the Capitals had six of their first seven shots on goal. From there, things didn’t get better for the Golden Knights.

Akira Schmid played well, made big saves when called upon and finished the night with a .25 GSAX. However, he could not compensate for the Golden Knights’ lapses on defense and in the neutral zone.

The Capitals broke the ice and finally solved Schmid 49 seconds into the second period. The Golden Knights allowed him a clean pass through the neutral zone and passed a clean pass to Rasmus Sandin. Sandin found Aliaksi Protas in the slot; Protas set up Pierre-Luc Dubois, who picked out his corner.

The Capitals struck again just 2:34 later. Under pressure from Tom Wilson, Rasmus Andersson passed the puck to Aleksi Protas behind the net. Protas backhanded it into the slot and Pierre-Luc Dubois hit his second of the night.

The Capitals increased their lead at 14:52 of the second minute. They came in waves from the circle, and Rasmus Sandin set up Jakub Chykrun for a one-timer from the right circle.

In the third period, the Golden Knights finally came alive. They outshot the Capitals 13-8 and controlled 67.1% of the expected goal share.

Their work paid off and the Golden Knights got on the board just 2:27 minutes into the third period. Kaidan Korczak sent a stretch-pass to Brayden Bowman, and the puck bounced off his stick in the offensive zone. Bowman raced after it, charged forward all alone and beat blocker-side Logan Thompson.

The Golden Knights tied it with a goal on the power play at 9:15 of the third game. Pavel Dorofeyev focused on Tomas Hertl and Hertl scored his 600th career point.

One by one, the Golden Knights applied pressure; However, a late penalty by Mark Stone halted their momentum. He knocked it down and pulled on Akira Schmidt for an extra attacker, but could not score the equaliser.

“We weren’t ready to play,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy after the 3–2 loss. “The coach has to prepare the team… but in this one, the players were not ready to play. They are professionals; they have to be ready to go. We were not good enough.

“We got through the first period, so you think it will be better in the second period,” Cassidy added. “But it got worse throughout that period. We’ll always respond, and we did again tonight… When we play 20 minutes, we almost win hockey games; imagine when we play 40 or 45.”

Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner, Shea Theodore, and Noah Hanifin returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game in Los Angeles. Eichel, Stone and Marner each recorded only one shot on goal.

“These are high-class players who have to be ready to play,” Cassidy lamented. “Toews and Makar played back-to-backs; McDavid, Matthews and Jack Hughes also… We gave our guys a few days off — intentionally scripted it — and got through it in L.A. and played well.

“He was quite relieved, to be honest,” Cassidy said. “They’ll be better on Sunday. They’re our best players. They’re our leaders, and we expect them to play like that.”

Hannah Kirkel is a beat writer who covers the Vegas Golden Knights for Vegas Hockey Now on SportsNote. She studied more about Hannah Kirkel