It was a shellacking, the kind to infuriate any coach. Amid the beatdown, Mike Keenan looked down the Blackhawks bench at the old Boston Garden and was incensed to find that one of his baby-faced defensemen was smiling.
Bruce Cassidy, 23 years old and with a career path seeming of infinite promise, couldn’t contain his joy.
“Mike kept looking at me,” recalled Cassidy, “and said, ‘What’ve you got a smile on your face for? We’re losing, 8-1!’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m at the Boston Garden, and I didn’t know I’d ever make it here as a player, so hey, I’m going to enjoy it.