Bruce Cassidy - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

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.