History not on Vegas’ side after Golden Knights replace head coach Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella
The Vegas Golden Knights have long proven themselves to be one of the most ruthless organizations not just the NHL, but in all of sports.
Whether it’s trading fan favourite goalie Marc-Andre Fleury or firing the franchise’s first head coach, Gerard Gallant, less than two years after guiding the team to the Stanley Cup Final, Vegas is no stranger to cutthroat moves.
The Golden Knights one-upped themselves on Sunday when it was announced they fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with John Tortorella. The move was made with only eight games left in the regular season and Vegas sitting third in the Pacific Division, with a three-point cushion over the second wild-card team in the Western Conference.
So, just how rare of move is this? Well, in the last 35 years, only four other teams have fired their head coach while they were in a playoff spot with 10 or less games left in the regular season.
Here’s how it worked out in those four other cases.
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1996 Vancouver Canucks
In the Spring of 1996, the Vancouver Canucks were two years removed from a Stanley Cup Final appearance and expectations remained sky-high with Alexander Mogilny, Trevor Linden and then-rookie Markus Naslund leading the way.
Vancouver sat in a playoff spot in March, but with the pressure mounting and in the midst of a tough stretch run, GM Pat Quinn fired head coach Rick Ley with eight games remaining in the regular season, with Quinn taking over coaching duties.
It turned out to be a middling move as Vancouver went 4-4 to end the year before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in a six-game first-round playoff series.
2000 New Jersey Devils
The only team to replace their head coach at the end of the season and not regret it is the 1999-2000 New Jersey Devils. Never afraid of making bold moves, GM Lou Lamoriello fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games remaining in the regular season amidst complaints from the players.
Hall of Fame defenceman Larry Robinson took over behind the bench and led New Jersey to their second Stanley Cup, defeating the Dallas Stars in a six-game final.
Robinson led the Devils back to the Cup Final in 2001, when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games, before he was fired midway through the 2001-02 season.
2003 Boston Bruins
Unfortunately, Ftorek is on the wrong side of this list twice. In 2003, with the Boston Bruins sitting just inside the cut-line for the Eastern Conference playoff picture, GM Mike O’Connell decided to take over coaching duties from Ftorek with nine games left in the regular season.
It wasn’t a very successful run as the Bruins went 3-3-3 before a first-round loss to New Jersey in five games. Boston went on to miss the playoffs in two of the next three seasons.
2007 New Jersey Devils
You can hardly fault Lamoriello for taking another shot at a bold move like this after how it worked out in 2000. However, it wasn’t the same result after Lamoriello fired Claude Julien and took over the behind the bench himself with nine games left in 2007.
The Devils managed to go 6-2-1 to end the regular season before beating the Tampa Bay Lighting in six games in the first round of the playoffs. But, that’s where the luck ended as New Jersey was spanked 4-1 in the second round against the Ottawa Senators, who went on to lose to the Anaheim Ducks in the Stanley Cup Final.
Bonus: 1989 New York Rangers
We’ll give you one bonus team that fired their coach late in the season while sitting in a playoff spot and you can basically describe this team as the reverse 2000 New Jersey Devils.
With just two regular season games remaining for the 1988-89 New York Rangers, GM Phil Esposito fired head coach Michel Bergeron and took over behind the bench.
It was a massive swing-and-a-miss for Esposito as the Rangers lost both regular season games before they were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs.