Bruce Cassidy coaches Vegas Golden Knights to Stanley Cup

LAS VEGAS — Bruce Cassidy struggled so badly in his first NHL coaching job with Washington that it knocked him out of the league for more than a decade. Less than a full calendar year since putting pen to paper with Vegas, Cassidy and the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup after beating the Florida Panthers in five games. And then to get your name on the Cup is the ultimate reward.” Almost two decades ago, when Cassidy was dumped less than a season and a half into his tenure with the Capitals, it seemed unheard of that he’d get another NHL job, let alone be on the doorstep of guiding a team to a championship. His ability to adjust in game, and his ability to see what’s happening within a game and change on the fly or or pull a different lever — changing lines, getting a certain matchup changing the forecheck, changing neutral zone sets — if you do it, you are successful as a team.” The Golden Knights won 13 of their first 15 games with Cassidy and finished atop the Western Conference despite goaltending injuries and other adversity that might have knocked them off course — like it did last season, prompting Peter DeBoer’s firing as coach. “So, we had our best game of the playoffs.” Until Tuesday night, when the Golden Knights dominated the Panthers in Game 5 to win the Stanley Cup and make Cassidy a champion.