NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bruce Cassidy is out as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, who fired him Sunday in an abrupt late-season change and replaced him with John Tortorella.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced the move a day after the team lost three in a row and six of its past seven games. Vegas is in third place in the Pacific Division and on track to make the playoffs despite the recent skid.
Advertisement
Tortorella joins the organization for his 24th NHL season as a head coach. He was not in the league this year and was an assistant for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Olympics when it won gold. He coached Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in 2004.
Cassidy led the Golden Knights to the Cup in 2023 and got fired less than three years later.
“Under Bruce’s leadership, we reached our ultimate goal in 2023 by bringing a Stanley Cup to Vegas,” McCrimmon said in a statement. “Bruce will forever be remembered with the utmost regard by our organization for what was accomplished here. With the stretch run of the 2025-26 regular season upon us, we believe that a change is necessary for us to return to the level of play that is expected of our club.
“With John Tortorella, we bring in a Stanley Cup Champion as well as one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the NHL. His guidance will be a great asset to our team at the pivotal point in the season we currently face.”
Advertisement
The change isn’t necessarily surprising given the Golden Knights’ play since the Olympics break in which they have gone 5-10-2 and they have been outscored by an average of 3.2 to 2.4 goals per game. Vegas for the first time will finish a season with more defeats than victories.
But the timing with eight games remaining in their regular season wasn’t completely expected, especially with the Golden Knights four points ahead of Los Angeles for the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
Patience isn’t something Vegas is known for, however. The organization aggressively goes after the NHL’s top players either through free agency or trades and holds its coaches to the highest standards. Though Cassidy is the longest-tenured coach in the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/golden-knights-fire-bruce-cassidy-210508786.html
Author : MARK ANDERSON
Publish date : 2026-03-29 21:05:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
