(Photo Credit: TSN)
This season, Bruce Cassidy will bump into some career milestones of his own. VGK’s bench boss is four victories away from 150 wins with the 31st franchise. Altogether, the coach is 62 wins away from 500 and is 35 points away from 1,000. These are impressive career numbers for a leader going into his 13th season behind the bench. Going even further, Cassidy is three postseason victories away from 65. It would be a disappointment if his team couldn’t get him over the mark next spring.
Top Points Percentage For Active Coaches
- Kris Knoblach: .656 Points % (151 Games)
- Jim Montgomery: .656 Points % (358 Games)
- Rod Brind’Amour: .654 Points % (534 Games)
- Sheldon Keefe: .644 Points % (431 Games)
- Bruce Cassidy: .639 Points % (755 Games)
- Jon Cooper: .638 Points % (961 Games)
Next season, the coach will be setting up to pass legendary coaches Glen Sather (497), Toe Blake (500), and Pat Burns (501) in career wins. To pump the brakes just a little, Cassidy is still 800 wins behind the immortal Scotty Bowman. However, the Golden Knights coach is 4th all time for fewest games (693 Games) to 400 wins and is on pace to be one of the quickest to 500 wins. While Cassidy’s .639-win percentage is 5th among active coaches, the ones ahead of him have 200-600 fewer games under their belts.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1669813349297602560
While Vegas’ head coach builds a hall of fame career, he should make a stronger case with how high the expectations are in Vegas.
Most Playoff Wins For Active Coaches
- Joel Quenneville: 121 (225 Games)
- Jon Cooper: 88 (155 Games)
- Paul Maurice: 86 (160 Games)
- Lindy Ruff: 71 (132 Games)
- Bruce Cassidy: 62 (119 Games)
Regular season success is great, but when it comes to history, it’s all about the playoffs. Vegas’ head coach currently holds the 22nd most playoff victories (62) in NHL history and is likely to climb the charts even further next spring. When it comes to active coaches, Cassidy is 5th behind four future Hall of Famers.
With a few more playoff victories, the 60-year-old will have an argument to be considered one of the best coaches in NHL history. Add another Stanley Cup ring or two, and Cassidy will have a golden plaque in Toronto and maybe a golden statue on Toshiba Plaza. (Hopefully it’s a little better than the mini golden statue giveaway a few years ago.)
Emmanuel
Jon Cooper seems to fly under the radar, maybe cause hes been in Tampa forever.
No drama with him.
NAM
I don’t know if Cassidy is a good coach or the best coach or a HOF coach etc. He clearly is a pretty damn good coach, but as a VGK fan I certainly appreciate the hell out of him. I love watching his press conferences, no coaches speak, just straight talk. As a fan you can learn a lot about hockey, players, strategy etc from just listening to him explain situations. He makes me a more educated fan. Ass helmet Pete Deboer was literally almost the opposite. If he was talking I was either pissed that he was full of shit or half asleep listening to someone who could talk for 10 min and not say a thing.
JB
Yea I like Butch. He’s a straight shooter with the boys also. Something most of them appreciate. Except maybe Marchy!
JB
How about reports and observations from training camp, Ken? Thanks
Emmanuel
Saw a report Eichel hurt on day 1.