After two seasons, the Estevan Bruins' executive decided they had seen enough.
The Bruins announced on Thursday they would not renew the contract of head coach and general manager Keith Cassidy, two years into his tenure with the club.
Cassidy's contract included a mutual option for a third year, but the Bruins' executive decided not to exercise it.
"I think as an executive, we just felt the club needed to go in a little bit of a different direction moving forward. Obviously this year didn't meet our expectations and we really feel that this community deserves a winning hockey club," said Bruins president Jeff Pierson.
The decision was made at an executive meeting on March 27.
In Cassidy's first season behind the bench in 2011-12, a relatively young Bruins squad finished fourth in the Sherwood Conference, swept the Notre Dame Hounds in the survivor series and then were swept by the Weyburn Red Wings in the Sherwood semifinals.
Expectations were heightened this season with a large group of returning players, but the Bruins struggled out of the gate and never turned it around. They finished fifth in the Sherwood, beat the Kindersley Klippers in the survivor series, then lost to the Yorkton Terriers in five games in the Sherwood semis.
Cassidy didn't go into specifics regarding what went wrong this season.
"We could list a whole host of things, but the fact of the matter is the expectations were there, and we didn't meet them.
"I couldn't pinpoint any one thing. I'm not going to make excuses for it, it just didn't happen. It was not the season we wanted it to be."
Cassidy, a Winnipeg native, said that when he met with members of the executive, they told him the rationale for the decision was primarily related to on-ice results.
"They talked about obviously the performance part of things, and that was mainly what I took away from that conversation. Jeff's stated already (in a press release) that it's performance-based and I can accept that."
Asked what he could have done differently in Estevan, Cassidy replied, "I'm not going to go back and second-guess anything. We dealt with things that happened in, generally, I think an appropriate matter. There were some good things done there. It's tough to say. I'm just going to say that it didn't work out the way we wanted it to work out."
In the press release, Pierson noted that the main factor in the decision was the desire to deliver a winning team to a supportive community "and we will take all steps necessary to make that happen."
Asked if he might have had a longer leash if not for the Bruins' recent history of underachieving, Cassidy concurred that Estevan deserves to have a successful team.
"It may have been, but I'm not going to speculate on coulda, woulda, shoulda. The community obviously is hungry for a winning team and it deserves one. I may have a different idea about how to go about doing that, but that's my opinion and I'm not going to argue with (the executive). They've obviously done a fantastic job of getting the team into a situation where it can be successful going forward.
"The one thing about Estevan is it's a motivated community, it's a motivated executive and with that opportunity comes a desire to win.
"I'm thankful for the opportunity. I learned a lot, I loved working in the community and I'm going to be around a little longer."
Pierson said the executive wasn't willing to exercise the option on Cassidy's contract to give him one more year to prove himself.
"I think it comes down to (the fact that) we want a winning hockey club and, I can only speak personally, wasn't willing to take a chance. We've gotta be very mindful of the community that supports this hockey club and we need to deliver a winner to the city of Estevan."
Pierson said he couldn't put a finger on what the difference was between a somewhat successful first year under Cassidy and a disappointing second year.
"I wish I had a really good answer for you. I just don't know. Almost from the first game of the year I don't know. Something was off. The first year, your expectations certainly weren't as high as the second year, which is something that has to be noted."
Aside from Karry Biette, who spent nearly six years behind the bench, the club hasn't had much continuity in its head coach/general manager position in recent years. But Pierson said the team couldn't make a decision based solely on that.
"That's something that I think as an organization, you're not proud of, you never want turnover as quickly as we've had, but in the same breath, you gotta do what you think is right. I don't think the executive was prepared to move forward for the sake of continuity but jeopardizing the future performance of the hockey club."
Cassidy came to the Bruins in April 2011 with an excellent track record in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Selkirk Steelers and Winnipeg Saints. Pierson said the team may have to pay more attention to the quality of the leagues the successful applicant has coached in.
"The success that he had in the MJ, for whatever reason, didn't quite translate the way we hoped it would in the SJ. Obviously, we need to bring a guy with a proven track record, and when I say that, I think we gotta look at where that track record was established. (That) will be very, very important," he noted.
"You want a coach that can walk that fine line between the players still respecting him but demanding and holding them to a high level. That's a tricky thing, but I think it's what's needed to be a winning hockey club."
The deadline for applications is April 26.Although the Bruins lose seven 20-year-olds to graduation, Pierson said the expectation for the new coach will be to achieve success quickly.
"We need a guy that we can feel confident can come in and get this club on track in a fairly timely fashion. We've had a couple of years of trying to build up to something. We have a large number of returning players, so it isn't like it's a big rebuilding year. With some good scouting over the summer to fill the few holes we have, I expect us to ice an extremely competitive hockey club in the fall."
