Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy fined $25K for comments on officiating

The Boston Bruins are dealing with losses on the ice and dealing out cheques this postseason.

Now on the brink of elimination in their second-round series against the New York Islanders, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has been dealt a $25,000 fine for criticizing the officiating of his team.

During his post-game availability, Cassidy discussed the alleged inconsistency that his team deals with from the series’ officials and suggested that it is due to the Islanders’ reputation.

“I think they sell a narrative over there that it’s more like the ‘New York Saints,’ not the New York Islanders.” Cassidy said after the 5-4 loss in Game 5 on Monday. “You know, they play hard and they play the right way. But I feel we’re the same way and the calls, the exact calls, that are getting called on us do not get called on them.

“And I don’t know why. These are very good officials — they’re at this point in the season for a reason. You’ve got continuous high sticks every game, the exact same high sticks… Maybe we need to sell them more, flop, but that’s not us. You just hope they’d see them. I mean, the same calls go against us. So, it’s not like I’m sitting there going, ‘Well, every call against us sucks.’ It’s not true.

“It’s just, at the end of the day, the similar plays, they need to be penalized on those plays. But like I said, I think they’ve done a great job selling that narrative that they’re clean.”

The Islanders have been privy to a total of 15 power-play opportunities in the five games of this series, while the Bruins have been able to go on the man advantage 11 times comparatively. During Monday night’s battle, New York was able to capitalize on three of its four power plays.

Cassidy has a history for calling out the referees for their performances. Not too long ago, during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues, the Bruins coach criticized the officials for letting an alleged non-call go past them during play, which ended up as the game-winning sequence during Game 5.

This back-and-forth series is heading back to Long Island for Game 6 on Wednesday, in what could be the deciding game that hands the Islanders their second consecutive conference final. With a lighter wallet, Cassidy hopes he can force the all-deciding seventh game in this defensive slog of a series.

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