It’s a rude awakening for every player that takes that major step in their development — and Cassidy, in his second year at the helm of the Griffins, was going to hold youngsters like Kelly accountable for not playing within their roles in Grand Rapids' lineup.
“I think a lot of young, immature kids — you come from junior hockey or college hockey and you've had success,” Kelly said to BostonSportsJournal.com earlier this week. “You think, oh, I'm gonna just automatically step in and have that same success at the pro level. And I think Bruce did a good job of making you identify quickly that this is a much higher level, there's more details to your game, and you're not even close.
“And I think you can either take that one way or the other. And I think the guys that take it properly end up thriving under him and succeeding. I knew Bruce was a good coach, knew the game well, had a good feel, but he was demanding. And I think once you get used to that, those demands of pro hockey — we didn't have an overly skilled team, but we still had a good team.”
