I loved claude and he got way too much flak during his time here as a Bruin. He'll go down as one of if not the best coach in Bruins history.
I say no, they don't. The Bruins needed something BIG to break the malaise and the coaching change was the tipping point this group needed to make this happen.
Maybe as far as coaches just getting flak from fans in general.
But the fact that Claude had so much of the fanbase comfortably on his side, after two straight playoff collapses (we looked to be headed straight down the path of a third), always surprised me.
Boston fans really seem to value loyalty and tradition. Chara certainly has it. Venture outside of hockey and into football. Remember when Bledsoe went down, Brady performed the way he did, and yet you still had swarms of fans demanding Bledsoe be put back in? Even though it was rather obvious what the right choice was.....???
Claude had a lot of success and had, statistically speaking, more long term success here than any other Bruins coach. However, there were tons of warning signs over the last few years that his coaching, system, whatever was not working for this team. Team was routinely playing games down to opponents, not competing at all with more challenging opponents and seemingly reverting to an extremely rudimentary and unenergetic systematic game. It was on Claude to get his team going and he failed to do it over a longer period of time than many coaches would have gotten (yes, most likely due to his past successes).
I think most us know now the right decision was made. But I still think some people are riding their righteousness a bit by not giving Cassidy the credit he deserves. Bruce has preached a style of game that fits this particular team much better than Julien.
