Bruins: Chris Wagner praises Bruce Cassidy's coaching style, abilities

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Bruce Cassidy has done a great job of leading the Boston Bruins over the course of the past two-plus seasons. After taking over for Claude Julien in February of 2017, Cassidy has helped the Bruins become a contender once again. And Cassidy has earned the trust of his players as a result.

One of those players is Chris Wagner. The veteran forward and first-year Bruin was complimentary of Cassidy's abilities and said the following about his coach, per Tara Sullivan of The Boston Globe.

"(Cassidy's) technique and knowing when to push the right buttons has obviously worked pretty well for us."

In particular, Wagner was impressed with the way that Cassidy is able to manage his players, knowing when to delegate leadership to other players and when to step up and take charge as the head coach.

“I think it’s more that he allows it to stay in the room, stay with the guys, and kind of stays out of the way more than anything,” Wagner said, per Sullivan. “Especially with the leaders we have I think that’s easy for him to do. Because he trusts Bergy and Marchie and Krech [David Krejci], Tuukka. Those guys have all been there, been through the battles like we’re about to go through here. He only has to say so much, but in the end we are the ones playing the games, the ones who have to execute. It’s more on us.

“He’s hard on us when he has to be, but I think he also knows when to step back and leave it to someone like (Zdeno Chara) or Bergy to say something in the room to get us going.”

Getting this type of praise specifically from Wagner is notable. Wagner suited up for 76 games in the regular season, but he has been a healthy scratch in four of the team's playoff games. He has been in and out of the lineup, and he probably would have still been out had it not been for an injury to Noel Acciari.

But, Wagner understands that Cassidy knows what he's doing, as evidenced by his comments. That type of buy-in from all involved with the team has helped to create a sense of confidence with this group.

Wagner will get a chance to continue to support Cassidy in Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The game will start at 3:00 p.m. Sunday and can be streamed on the NBC Sports App.

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