Bruce Cassidy Begins Press Conference With Heartfelt Message For Claude Julien

Bruce Cassidy had a lot to answer for Thursday night after the Boston Bruins’ 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs series.

Not only did Boston suffer a defeat that evened the first-round matchup at one game apiece. The Bruins also revealed just before game time that David Pastrnak would be out of the lineup.

Pastrnak’s absence obviously was a huge development, therefore prompting plenty of questions about the star winger, but Cassidy opened his postgame video conference with a heartfelt message for Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien, who left the NHL’s bubble in Toronto on Wednesday after experiencing chest pains.

“First off, I’d like to start by wishing Claude Julien a healthy and speedy recovery, know he was in hospital overnight,” Cassidy said. “I don’t have a lot of details, but on behalf of the coaching staff, players and the whole Bruins organization, we’re wishing him a healthy recovery. Our best goes out to Karen (Julien’s wife) and the kids.”

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Julien spent parts of 10 seasons as Boston’s head coach from 2007 to 2017. He won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and guided them to another Cup Final appearance in 2013.

Cassidy, who took over as the Bruins’ bench boss after they parted ways with Julien, coached the organization’s AHL affiliate in Providence before making his way to Boston as an assistant coach in 2016. The two developed a relationship in that span, and Julien clearly was on Cassidy’s mind Thursday, as the Bruins continued their series against the Hurricanes.

Julien is expected to miss the rest of Montreal’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers, which the Canadiens trail 1-0. Kirk Muller will serve as Montreal’s interim coach with Julien sidelined.

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