Jake DeBrusk and Bruce Cassidy discuss his return to Boston

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Dorin Canaday
December 5, 2022 (12:02)

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Bruce Cassidy returns to Boston for the first time since being relieved of his duties on June 6th.

Cassidy spent 14 years with the club, eight in the AHL with Providence and six as Boston's head coach and went 245-108-46 (.672 points percentage) in his tenure as head coach.

Now, in an unexpected turn of events, Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights are top of the Western Conference and third in the NHL with an 18-7-1 record. Meanwhile, Cassidy's successor Jim Montgomery and the Bruins are 20-3-0, one point behind the New Jersey Devils for first in the league (hold the best points percentage at .870).

This means that Monday's matchup is that much more special for a couple of reasons. Cassidy discussed those with Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun:

''I want to go into every game with our �A' game, and obviously, I hope we have our �A' game, but for two reasons .. One, they're 19-3. We'll get embarrassed if we don't. They're a good hockey club. And two, I worked there for a long time.''

One of Cassidy's most significant falling outs in Boston was with forward Jake Debrusk, who requested a trade last November but rescinded it after the bench boss was fired by the club.

Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now spoke to DeBrusk on Cassidy's return:

''With the things [that happened] in the offseason, I obviously wanted to come in with a statement [with my play] under the new coach. With the injuries we had at the time, I knew there was going to be an opportunity, and I wanted to take it.''

''It's one of those things where it's just another game. It's probably going to be weird.''

However, DeBrusk also has Cassidy to thank for the bounce back in his career. He was the one who promoted the 25-year-old to the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, and he's been there ever since.