FORMER BRUINS BENCH BOSS
Cassidy was the head coach of the Boston Bruins for the last six seasons. He took over for the final 27 games of the 2016-17 season and remained behind the Boston bench through the end of the 2022 season. In 399 regular season games, Cassidy's Bruins put up a 245-108-46 record and a .672 winning percentage.
Cassidy led the Bruins to the playoffs in each of his six seasons and helped Boston to the Presidents' Trophy in 2019-20. Individually, Cassidy won the Jack Adams Trophy in 2019-20 and was previously a finalist for the award in 2017-18 when Vegas' Gerard Gallant was named coach of the year.
2019 STANLEY CUP FINAL
In 2018-19, Cassidy and the Bruins qualified as the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division and faced the No. 3 Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After Toronto took a 3-2 lead in the series, the Bruins came back to win Game 6 in Toronto and Game 7 in Boston to advance to the second round. The Bruins overcame a 2-1 series deficit in Round Two to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games and advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
Cassidy led the Bruins to a four-game sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in his career. The Bruins won Game 1, Game 3 and Game 6 in the series, but fell to Alex Pietrangelo and the St. Louis Blues in seven games in the final round.
HE COACHED WHERE?
It isn't often a player goes directly from playing to coaching in the same season, but Cassidy did just that in 1996-97 as hung up his skates after 10 games with the IHL's Indianapolis Ice and stepped behind the bench as head coach of the ECHL's Jacksonville Lizard Kings. After two years with the Lizard Kings, Cassidy coached the Ice for one season, the Trenton Titans (ECHL) for one season, and the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) for two seasons.
In 2002-03, Cassidy made his NHL coaching debut with Washington and coached the Capitals for 110 games. He spent one season as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005-06 before coaching the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL for parts of two seasons. In 2008-09, Cassidy began an eight-year stint with the Providence Bruins, five of which were as head coach. He returned to the NHL in 2016-17 as an assistant with Boston and became head coach on Feb. 7, 2017, and was dismissed by Boston after the team's first-round exit in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
DIVERSE PLAYING CAREER
Cassidy was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks with the 18th overall pick in the 1983 NHL Draft. He made his NHL debut in the 1983-84 season and played 36 NHL games over six seasons for Chicago posting 17 points (4G, 13A) in the process. In the 1990-91 season, Cassidy went overseas to Alleghe HC in Italy for three seasons. His last season in Europe was in 1993-94 with Kaufbeuren ESV in Germany and he finished his playing career with three seasons with the Indianapolis Ice.
