I don’t know if Bruce Cassidy is the second coming of Scotty Bowman. I’m not even sure he is as good a head coach as Claude Julien was.
But what’s clear is that the Boston Bruins, who are 3-0-0 since changing coaches last week, are benefitting from having a new voice behind the bench. And they aren’t the only ones. From the St. Louis Blues to the New York Islanders, the best trades in the NHL this season have concerned a coach, not a player.
It’s called a bump, a boost or a boon. And while there is no guarantee that this short-term surge will continue for the long run, it quite possibly has saved Boston’s season.