Job security has become a significant issue amongst professional athletes and coaches in the National Hockey League. This applies more to those in coaching positions, with multiple individuals being fired throughout the 2019-20 season. Bruce Cassidy from the Boston Bruins is growing more concerned that coaches could be terminated for not winning championship titles. Considering that there’s only one championship in the NHL, this leaves 20+ coaches potentially being fired. Cassidy is coaching the All-Star Game alongside other notable individuals. These men are discussing strategies to request job security amongst NHL coaches.
Bruce Cassidy was concerned that he’d lose his position as head coach of the Boston Bruins. This concern came after losing the Stanley Cup Finals to the St. Louis Blues. Other coaches that took their organizations to this championship event weren’t lucky enough to keep their positions. Gerard Gallant, the previous head coach for the Vegas Golden Knights, trained players to the Stanley Cup Finals in their 1st season. After losing to the Washing Capitals during the 2018 championship, he was immediately terminated and replaced by Peter DeBoer. This man has also lost his championship opportunity in 2017 while coaching the Nashville Predators, where DeBoer would lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This has been a re-occurring strategy for NHL Teams, to terminate one losing coach and hire another that previously lost.
Several changes to coaching staff were made throughout this season, five being performance-related and the others relating to behavioural-issues. This included Mike Babcock, Bill Peters and Jim Montgomery for the personal problems between fellow players and coaches. Babcock is considered to be the worst, as he’d deliberately act aggressive towards his players and often would commit violent acts. Shockingly, the National Hockey League would allow him to remain to coach going forward. However, these several terminations weren’t as extensive when eleven coaches were fired throughout the 2002-03 season. Since those original terminations, communication between NHL Corporate and the coaches have been lacklustre.
Long-Term Coaches
When it applies to NHL coaches, the longest-tenured individual is Jon Cooper from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hired initially during the 2013 season, he’s completed six professional seasons and has the highest record amongst all coaching staff in the NHL. Coming in sixth place in Bruce Cassidy, who has coached the Boston Bruins since the 2016-17 season. Cassidy would have to remain with the Bruins for an additional three seasons to defeat Jon Cooper’s record, under the condition that the Tampa Bay Lightning coach was terminated after this season.