Heading into the 2022-23 season, everyone was talking about how the Boston Bruins would be affected by moving on from Bruce Cassidy and having Jim Montgomery take over as head coach. Now halfway through the season, David Krejci believes it helped a lot.
Boston is currently at the top of the Eastern Conference with a 34-5-4 record. They are poised to make a run for the Stanley Cup and are playing at a level that hasn’t been seen in quite some time in Boston.
It is easy to assume that it is all because of the change behind the bench. Cassidy had a reportedly rocky relationship with Jake DeBrusk, and the winger is in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career.
But now it seems like the coaching change might have affected some more veteran players as well. After his 1000th NHL game, Krejci spoke about his return to Boston and appeared to send a not-so-thinly veiled shot at Cassidy.
“I’m very thankful and grateful that they gave me a call in the summer to come back,” Krejci said via 98.5 the Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson. “Obviously, there’s some expectations, but I’m just glad with the way the team is playing. The record speaks for itself. I feel this could be a special year. We know what we have in this room, we don’t take it for granted, and we’ll see how it goes. But I like the mentality of this team to stay in the moment, take it game-by-game. Practices have been good. Obviously, the coaching changed helped a lot. We’re obviously feeling good.”
If that isn’t an indictment on Cassidy’s standing with the locker room towards the end of his tenure, I don’t know what is.
Krejci is having a great season in his own right. In 38 games this season, he has 11 goals and 23 assists. At 36 years old, the center is having a renaissance of sorts.
While doing well in the regular season is welcome, Krejci has his eyes on a Stanley Cup. While he is playing well, every season is a gift at his age, and the end could be right around the corner.
It’s clear that the change from Cassidy to Montgomery was successful, but it is pretty interesting to see a veteran like Krejci being so bold with his statements. Who will be the next player to speak about how successful the change has been?
And if the Bruins end up winning the Stanley Cup? Oh man, the takes will be flying (but who will care because Boston will be champions once again).
