Management Bruce Cassidy Fired

[Number8]

I have a few thoughts on Sweeney.

First off, he grates on me, he strikes me as a guy that always thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, and to be fair he might be but if he's that smart, he should know how to present himself better. Overall, I think he's okay as a GM; the 2015 draft will always be like someone that cheated on you; they might do 80% of things right after that, but there was that one time where they cheated. He'll never really live it down. But to say his draft record isn't good overall because of it is misstating the facts. And he does take swings at the deadline, they don't always work out (Rick Nash), but I still am happy he took that swing. All of us sit here and watch the 'game day' threads at the trade deadline, and we all want the big move, and it is nice to have a GM that makes some.

I thought he was more at fault than Cassidy this past year, but to be fair, I thought the Bruins should do a ton of things over the years that would have gotten me fired as a GM a dozen times over (and most of us here are the same). Cassidy has been a great regular season coach, but he hasn't been able to make the adjustments to apply that success in the playoffs, and I feel like we've had some teams that should have been better in the playoffs, so maybe that is on him.

Finally, Sweeney has got a lot to do over the summer, and he better be on the hot seat based on it. Try a new coach, try to fix the glaring holes in the roster, and see what happens. Next year, if we're right back in the same spot and Sweeney is back again, then the organization has bigger issues.

Don't get wrapped up in the Harvard Smarts bullshit. There's a fair amount of smoke and mirrors in play. A few notes:

1) Harvard has long been known to be easy on grading once you are in. This is a "look to your left and right at matriculation -- and fully expect to see these same people with you at graduation" type of place. Hard to get into, easy to stay, and they stress high GPA's after the fact. In other words, Harvard wants you to know that they only graduate super smart people. After all ,their high GPA's and graduation rates prove it.

2) To that "hard to get into" question. Overall acceptance rate is below 4%. In and of itself, amazing.

3) However, a clarification on point #2. 43% of Harvard's white students are legacy, athletes, or beneficiaries of Daddy giving shit tons of money. 43%!!!!!! And of that 43%?????? 75% do not have the GPA, credentials, or test scores to get in on their own. In other words, if Daddy and Great Grand Daddy went to Harvard and gave a lot of money, slightly simple Charlie will likely get in too. Kind of like, well, "running" a hockey team.

Don Sweeney may be very "smart" -- I don't know. But the fact that he's a white athlete means that you CANNOT assume just because he went to Harvard he is smart. Any more than you can assume because Charlie has his own horsey and polo mallet he knows anything about sports.

Harvard is an excellent university. But a Harvard Degree does not mean unequivocally that you are smart. You might be. You might also be of average intelligence with a super rich daddy and a wicked pissah slap shot.

 

[Number8]

When you factor in that Cam Neely's official, stated reason for the disastrous 2015 draft is that the scouting team failed Don Sweeney, who wasn't prepared for the job, it's clear Sweeney deserves a lifetime contract.

That also seems like the safest way to ensure he might one day develop a center prospect.

That set of facts always makes my head feel like it's going to explode.

I had a better handle on who to draft in 2015 that Don Sweeney did. And I am by no means a pro. Simply put, if someone had put Zboril, DeBrusk, and Senyshyn in front of me a week before the draft I would have said "what????". Just like virtually all of us did on draft day -- AND all the talking heads on tv. The picks were universally panned as a big miss on draft day.

If Donny Sweeney (who worked for the Bruins at the time God Damn It) did not question those picks then I do not know what to say.

 

[BMC]

Contradictory SOB isn't he!?!

He really does think he's smarter than everyone else so he thinks we won't notice this and the other bullshit he has spewed.

 

[Otherworld]

We have 0.0 knowledge of whether Bergeron is hanging them up. Unless I’m missing something.

Agreed, in the same breath, why are we waiting? There is a lot of work that needs to be done to this team. Especially down the middle.

 

[Five Hole]

I think he should have done better with the rosters he had. I thought, early on, he had good “buy in” and the results speak for themselves, Cup Finals and the Presidents trophy. However, when they faltered in the bubble tournament, he was brutal with his public assessments of his players and the wheels started to fall off his wagon. Too many comments from former players and too many requests for trades and/or complaints about playing time…where there’s smoke there’s usually fire.

He never showed the ability to adjust to better coaches figuring out the holes in his system, he was a deer in headlights clinging to his plan. Also, and this is just my pet peeve, I’m not sure he knows what a time out is or how/when to use it.

His teams played a passive game and “turned the other cheek” all the time. I know many here will claim the roster was soft and I won’t argue, it has been a bit soft. However, team toughness is reflective of its coach and it’s clear that Cassidy did not value “push back”. He clearly wanted to “beat them on the scoreboard” rather than respond in kind. Teams that play soft don’t make it deep into the playoffs.

In the end I just don’t think his approach and in game coaching where all that special. Much like Tortorella, Cassidy’s style has a shelf life because you can only call out the players for so long before they stop responding to you. His system is solid for the regular season and that coupled with one of the better rosters in the conference have resulted in some good regular season numbers but that’s not enough.

I wish him well and hope he finds a new job soon, but I’m also glad the Bruins have let him go and I look forward to the next chapter.

 

[finchster]

Don't get wrapped up in the Harvard Smarts bullshit. There's a fair amount of smoke and mirrors in play. A few notes:

1) Harvard has long been known to be easy on grading once you are in. This is a "look to your left and right at matriculation -- and fully expect to see these same people with you at graduation" type of place. Hard to get into, easy to stay, and they stress high GPA's after the fact. In other words, Harvard wants you to know that they only graduate super smart people. After all ,their high GPA's and graduation rates prove it.

2) To that "hard to get into" question. Overall acceptance rate is below 4%. In and of itself, amazing.

3) However, a clarification on point #2. 43% of Harvard's white students are legacy, athletes, or beneficiaries of Daddy giving shit tons of money. 43%!!!!!! And of that 43%?????? 75% do not have the GPA, credentials, or test scores to get in on their own. In other words, if Daddy and Great Grand Daddy went to Harvard and gave a lot of money, slightly simple Charlie will likely get in too. Kind of like, well, "running" a hockey team.

Don Sweeney may be very "smart" -- I don't know. But the fact that he's a white athlete means that you CANNOT assume just because he went to Harvard he is smart. Any more than you can assume because Charlie has his own horsey and polo mallet he knows anything about sports.

Harvard is an excellent university. But a Harvard Degree does not mean unequivocally that you are smart. You might be. You might also be of average intelligence with a super rich daddy and a wicked pissah slap shot.

I used to work with a guy in Moscow who had a degree from Oxford. He was brilliant but had no social skills, a personality of a dead moth, and thus, he got fired.

Being a graduate of a top-level university means you can read and write at a high level, but it doesn't mean you will have success in your career because intelligence and career success aren't perfectly correlated. Sweeney is probably like that guy I worked with- intelligent, but his personality defects hinder him.

 

[smithformeragent]

Management - Don Sweeney explains why Bruce Cassidy was fired and a rebuild is possible - UNEDITED

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/07/sports/bruins-boss-don-sweeney-admits-team-could-be-facing-rebuild-under-new-coach/ The morning after firing sixth-year coach Bruce Cassidy, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney acknowledged the possibility the new coach could be at the helm of a team in...

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[Fenway]

Bruce Cassidy Fired - Part II - Now he is in the Frozen Four with VGK

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