| Bruce Cassidy | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 20, 1965 Ottawa, ON, CAN |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb) |
| Position | Defence |
| Shot | Left |
| Played for | Chicago Black Hawks |
| NHL Draft | 18th overall, 1983 Chicago Black Hawks |
| Playing career | 1983–1997 |
Bruce James Cassidy (born May 20, 1965 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was formerly the head coach of Washington Capitals and is currently the head coach of the Boston Bruins's AHL affiliate Providence Bruins.
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Cassidy was a defenceman who played in the Ontario Hockey League with the Ottawa 67's from 1982–1985, and he was selected by the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, selected in the 1st round, 18th overall. Cassidy's best OHL season was in 1982–83, when he registered 25 goals and 86 assists for 111 points. He won the Memorial Cup under coach Brian Kilrea in 1984 scoring 12 points. At the age of 19, he made his NHL debut with the Black Hawks in March 1984. During the years of 1984–1988, he had 3 knee surgeries, including major reconstruction of his ACL.
Between 1985–1990, Cassidy would spend most of his time in the Hawks minor league system, playing with the Nova Scotia Oilers of the American Hockey League, the Saginaw Generals of the International Hockey League, the Saginaw Hawks of the IHL and the Indianapolis Ice, also in the IHL.
Cassidy's NHL playing career was limited due to his knee surgeries. Yet, Cassidy would also play 36 games with Chicago during those years, scoring 4 goals and adding 13 assists for 17 points, along with 10 PIM.
After winning the Turner Cup in the IHL, Cassidy then signed with Alleghe HC in Italy, and played 2 years with the club 1990–1992 and 1992–1993 in the Italian Ice Hockey League, appearing in 51 games, while getting 117 points (35G-82A).
After his stint in Italy, Cassidy then spent the 1993–94 season with Kaufbeuren of the German Hockey League, getting 17 points (8G-9A) in 35 games.
| Season | Team | League | Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |||
| 1982–83 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 70 | 25 | 86 | 111 | 33 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 10 |
| 1983–84 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 67 | 27 | 68 | 95 | 58 | 13 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 6 |
| 1983–84 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1984–85 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 28 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 15 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1985–86 | Nova Scotia Oilers | AHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1985–86 | Chicago Black Hawks | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1986–87 | Canadian National Team | Intl | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | |||||
| 1986–87 | Saginaw Generals | IHL | 10 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1986–87 | Nova Scotia Oilers | AHL | 19 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | – |
| 1986–87 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | – |
| 1987–88 | Saginaw Hawks | IHL | 60 | 9 | 37 | 46 | 59 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 19 |
| 1987–88 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 21 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1988–89 | Saginaw Hawks | IHL | 72 | 16 | 64 | 80 | 80 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 1988–89 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989–90 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 75 | 11 | 46 | 57 | 56 | 14 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 20 |
| 1989–90 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1990–91 | Alleghe HC | Italy | 36 | 23 | 52 | 75 | 20 | |||||
| 1992–93 | Alleghe HC | Italy | 25 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 10 | |||||
| 1993–94 | Kaufbeuren ESV | 1.GBu | 33 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 12 | |||||
| 1994–95 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 29 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 16 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1995–96 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 56 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 46 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1996–97 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 11 | -- | -- | -- | - | -- |
| NHL Totals | 36 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Cassidy then returned to the Blackhawks organization with the Indianapolis Ice from 1994–97 before retiring as a player 10 games into the 96–97 season to take a head coaching job with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the ECHL in mid-season. Cassidy took over the team which started the year 6–12–2, and led them to a 15–25–10 record.
The Lizard Kings greatly improved in Cassidy's 2nd year with the team, as they finished with a record of 35–29–6, with 76 points.
In 1998–99, Cassidy was promoted to head coach of the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL, the club finished the year at 33–37–12=78 points and qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, they played the heavily favoured Cincinnati Cyclones in a best of 3 series, and the Cyclones won the opening game 4–2. The Ice came back and won the 2nd game 4–3 in OT, and then took the series by winning 1–0 in game 3 in Cincinnati. In the 2nd round, the Ice fell 3 games to 1 to the Detroit Vipers and were eliminated from the playoffs.
As the Ice folded after the 98–99 season, Cassidy took the head coaching job with the expansion Trenton Titans of the ECHL, and led them to a 37–29–4 record, good for 4th place in the Northeast Division. The Titans made short work of the Richmond Renegades in the 1st round, sweeping them 3 games to 0. In the 2nd round, they faced off against the Hampton Roads Admirals, and beat them 3 games to 2. The Titans would then fall 4 games to 2 to the Peoria Rivermen, in the semi-finals.
Cassidy then moved to the Ottawa Senators organization, and became head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL. The club finished with the best record in the league (53–22–7, 113 points), and they swept the Cleveland Lumberjacks in 4 games before falling to the Orlando Solar Bears in 6 games in the semi-finals.
Cassidy returned to Grand Rapids for the 2001–02 season, leading them to another division title with a 42–27–11=95 pts record, but the team lost in the first round to the Chicago Wolves in 5 games.
The Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League took notice of Cassidy's success in the minors and hired him to become the head coach of the club in 2002–03. The Capitals finished 2nd place in the Southeast with a 39–29–8–6=92 pts record, and took on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs. The Capitals won the first 2 games in Tampa Bay, however, the Lightning rebounded and won 4 in a row to eliminate the Capitals from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Cassidy returned in 2003–04, he was 25 games into the season with an 8–16–1 record when he was let go from the Washington Capitals and replaced by assistant coach Glen Hanlon. The club would go on and finish with the 2nd worst record in the league under Glen Hanlon (23–46–10–3=59 pts), but won the 1st overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and chose Alexander Ovechkin.
Cassidy signed on as an assistant coach with the Blackhawks in June 2004, but his contract was not renewed for the 2006–07 season given his better fit as a head coach. He was hired by the Kingston Frontenacs on July 12, 2006. On September 10, 2006, in a pre-season exhibition game between Kingston and Ottawa, Cassidy got the chance to coach against his former coach and mentor Kilrea; the Frontenacs lost 4–3, thanks to Ottawa's 3-point men Matt Lahey and Thomas Kiriakou, who each had two goals and an assist. During the regular season, Cassidy quickly rebounded in the home opener and beat his former proud mentor by 9–5.
During his first season as head coach, the Frontenacs would finish with a 31–30–7 record, earning them 69 points and 5th place in the Eastern Conference. The Fronts would face the Oshawa Generals in the first round of the playoffs, and would be eliminated in 5 games.
Cassidy returned to Kingston to begin the 2007–08 season, however, after a rough 2–9–1 start to the season, he was let go from the Frontenacs and replaced by Larry Mavety. Cassidy finished with a 33–39–8 record with the club.
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | Result | ||
| JAX | 1996–97 | 50 | 15 | 25 | 10 | - | (54) | 8th in South | Missed playoffs |
| JAX | 1997–98 | 70 | 35 | 29 | 6 | - | 76 | 3rd in Southeast | Missed playoffs |
| IND | 1998–99 | 82 | 33 | 37 | - | 12 | 78 | 3rd in Central | Lost in second round |
| TRE | 1999–00 | 70 | 37 | 29 | - | 4 | 78 | 4th in Northeast | Lost in fourth round |
| GRG | 2000–01 | 82 | 53 | 22 | - | 7 | 113 | 1st in East | Lost in second round |
| GRG | 2001–02 | 80 | 42 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 95 | 1st in West | Lost in first round |
| WAS | 2002–03 | 82 | 39 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 92 | 2nd in Southeast | Lost in first round |
| WAS | 2003–04 | 25 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 1 | (59) | 5th in Southeast | (fired) |
| KGN | 2006–07 | 68 | 31 | 30 | - | 7 | 69 | 3rd in East | Lost in first round |
| KGN | 2007–08 | 12 | 2 | 9 | - | 1 | (52) | 5th in East | (fired) |
| NHL totals | 110 | 47 | 47 | 9 | 7 | ||||
| Preceded by Ken Yaremchuk |
Chicago Blackhawks first round draft pick 1983 |
Succeeded by Ed Olczyk |
| Preceded by Ron Wilson |
Head coach of the Washington Capitals 2002–03 |
Succeeded by Glen Hanlon |
| Preceded by Jim Hulton |
Head coach of the Kingston Frontenacs 2006–08 |
Succeeded by Larry Mavety |