It’s been nearly two weeks since the Boston Bruins 2018-19 season came to a devastating end when the St. Louis Blues hoisted the Stanley Cup on TD Garden ice.
It will be a Game 7 Bruce Cassidy never will forget, but he won’t spend the offseason thinking about what could have been. Instead, the head coach will shift his focus to October.
“I was ready to go back to work the next day,” he said in an interview with The Athletic’s Joe McDonald. “I know that sounds, whatever, but it’s true. Our guys liked each other and I liked going (to the rink). It was the longest I’ve ever coached and you think you’d be exhausted, and you are to a certain extent. And everybody says it’s going to be a grind and it is, but it’s an enjoyable grind.
“You’ve got a good team. You’ve got invested guys. I’m ready to go back and see what we’ve got for a lineup and who we’re re-signing and I’m excited to start talking about our group next year. I don’t know if that’s healthy. I should maybe take a rest for a while, but that’s just my feeling.”
Cassidy will undergo a knee replacement Thursday, so he’ll have plenty of time to either get some rest or think about constructing next year’s lines. What the 54-year-old also may do is watch St. Louis’ Stanley Cup celebration — something he said he has yet to do despite already re-watching Game 7.
“Oh, yeah. I went through it,” he said. “I didn’t watch the celebration — haven’t got there yet. I taped it on the NHL Network and I figure one day I’ll watch it. I even tried to walk out to the bench after the media (was done), but it felt weird. I always said I would do that, if I lose I’m going to go out and see what it’s like and at least put it in your memory, but it was just weird that night. A lot of it is a blur. They were on the ice, and you just want to get the hell out of there.”
The Bruins start fresh and begin a new quest for the Cup Oct. 3 when they begin their season against the Dallas Stars on the road.
