Cassidy era ends with a fizzle

It was roughly a year ago that General Manager George McPhee brought in a young, energetic, charismatic young man named Bruce Cassidy, known as 'Butch,' to be the coach of the Washington Capitals. Butch was supposed to bring optimism and a winning spirit to a team stumbling after its first ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

After a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils, Cassidy exploded in the locker room, reportedly blaming players for "being overly concerned with their spouses and children," according to CBS Sportsline. Goalie Olaf Kolzig's son is autistic, defenseman Brendan Witt's wife almost died of sepsis, and defenseman Jason Doig's wife recently gave birth.

Struggling forward Jaromir Jagr has reportedly had problems with Coach Cassidy, who experienced similar communication run-ins with other veterans such as the now-retired Calle Johansson, according to Sports Illustrated. As one of the most talented offensive groups in the league, the Capitals have been underperformers, and many analysts had been questioning McPhee's decision to keep Cassidy as coach for so long.

Glen Hanlon, the coach of the Capitals' AHL affiliate Portland Pirates, is to replace Cassidy, and may be given an extended period of time to turn this team around, as he was a finalist for the coaching job 18 months ago. Hanlon inherits an 8-18-1 team, tied for the bottom of the league standings with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that has recently dumped essentially all of its veteran players in the past season.