On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the Boston Bruins fired their head coach, Claude Julien, after 10 years with the team. The Bruins are 33-24-6 under Claude Julien this season. So far the Bruins are 8-2-0 under interim head coach, Bruce Cassidy.
“I think that Claude was a great coach, but his time ran out, and he lost the respect of the players,” said WHS Boys Hockey senior forward Paul Heffernan. “He also refused to adjust to the changing culture of the game, but I appreciate the work that he did here and the Stanley Cup that he brought us.”
In total, Julien was 419-246-94 with the Bruins which makes him Boston’s all time winningest coach. Julien coached the Bruins to two Stanley Cup Finals, winning one in 2011 and losing the other in 2013. Julien also coached the Bruins to the President’s Trophy in 2014, meaning they had the best record in the NHL. Before Julien coached with the Bruins, he coached the Montreal Canadiens for three seasons and the New Jersey Devils for one season.
Julien had a record of 4-5-1 in his last 10 games when Don Sweeney, the General Manager of the Bruins, fired him. Cassidy stepped in as the interim head coach after he was the assistant coach since May of 2016.
Cassidy joined the Bruins organization as the assistant coach of the Providence Bruins in the 2008-2009 season. Cassidy then became head coach of the Providence Bruins after the 2010-2011 season. He held that position until he became the assistant coach of the Boston Bruins at the beginning of this season.
“I obviously like [Julien] a lot as a
coach,” said senior WHS Boys Hockey forward Cam Martin, “but he didn’t really work in Boston. He needed a change of scenery.”
On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Julien was hired by the Montreal Canadiens only a week after being fired the Bruins. The Canadiens are in first place and are six points above the Bruins with 82 in the Atlantic conference. The Bruins are in third place with 74 points in the Atlantic Conference and are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Since the hiring of Julien, the Canadiens have a record of 6-2-0.
Martin said, “Well, if you want my honest opinion, the Bruins are better than ever. Julien liked to play a relaxed style of play and Cassidy is more of an aggressive coach who likes to get the defense involved in the play.”
