“It’s nice to return with a big, shiny ring on your finger,” says the former coach of the Boston Bostonians.

Boston: It was December 5, 2022. For the first time since his firing by the Boston Bruins after the 2021–22 season, which put an end to his more than five years as the team’s coach, Bruce Cassidy, the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, had an emotional evening.

Cassidy was now behind the visitors bench and he had no idea what to expect. During the first media break, Cassidy was obviously emotional as the TD Garden crowd gave him an ovation and the jumbotron played a tribute.

“I think last year there was the unknown, didn’t know what would happen,” Cassidy said on Thursday, ahead of this season’s TD Garden matchup with the Bruins. “You come back in here, you get let go, so you don’t know if you’re going to get booed out of the building or a nice hand, so anyway we got that over with.”