Bruce Cassidy struggled so badly in his first NHL coaching job with Washington that it knocked him out of the league for more than a decade.
Cassidy coached in the junior ranks and the minors before getting a second chance with Boston. When he was fired from that job, he was out of work a grand total of a week before the Vegas Golden Knights hired him.
Almost two decades ago, when Cassidy was dumped less than a season and a half into his tenure with the Capitals, it seemed unheard of that he'd get another NHL job, let alone be on the doorstep of guiding a team to a championship. George McPhee — now Vegas' president of hockey operations — hired Cassidy in 2002, then fired him 17 losses in 25 games into the 2003—04 season.
“Give the guy credit: He came back from the dead,” said retired defenseman Colby Cohen, who played under Cassidy in Providence. "He grinded his way through, and he developed players. It really is impressive." With their new coach, the Golden Knights won 13 of their first 15 games and finished atop the Western Conference despite goaltending injuries and other adversity that might have knocked them off course — like it did last season, prompting Peter DeBoer's firing as coach.
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