Bruce Cassidy

Bruce James Cassidy (born May 20, 1965), nicknamed "Butch", is a Canadian hockey coach and former professional ice hockey player.

He is the current head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He has previously served as the head coach of the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins.

As a defenceman, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL.

Cassidy won the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.

Cassidy was a defenceman who played in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Ottawa 67's from 1982 to 1985, and he was selected by the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, selected in the first 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 age 19, he made his NHL debut with the Black Hawks in March 1984.

From 1984 to 1988, he had three knee surgeries, including major reconstruction of his ACL.

Between 1985 and 1990, Cassidy would spend most of his time in the Black Hawks' minor league system, playing with the Nova Scotia Oilers of the American Hockey League (AHL), the Saginaw Generals of the International Hockey League (IHL), 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.

He would also play 36 games with the Blackhawks during those years, scoring 4 goals and adding 13 assists for 17 points, along with 10 penalty minutes.

After winning the Turner Cup in the IHL, Cassidy signed with Alleghe HC in Italy and played two years with the club 1990–1992 and 1992–1993 in the Italian Ice Hockey League, appearing in 51 games and earning 117 points (35 goals and 82 assists).

After his stint in Italy, Cassidy then spent the 1993–94 season with ESV Kaufbeuren of the German Hockey League, earning 17 points (8 goals and 9 assists) in 35 games.

Cassidy then returned to the Blackhawks organization with the Indianapolis Ice from 1994 to 1997 before retiring as a player ten games into the 1996–97 season to take a head coaching job with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the ECHL mid-season.

Cassidy retired as a player with the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL to become head coach of the Jacksonville Lizard Kings of the ECHL in 1996–97.

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 second year with the team, finishing with a 35–29–6 record for 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 for 78 points and qualified for the playoffs.

In the first round, they played the heavily favoured Cincinnati Cyclones in a best of three series, and the Cyclones won Game 1 4–2.

The Ice came back and won Game 2 4–3 in overtime, and then took the series by winning 1–0 in Game 3 in Cincinnati.

In the second round, the Ice fell three games to one to the Detroit Vipers and were eliminated from the playoffs.

As the Ice folded after the 1998–99 season, Cassidy took the head coaching job with the expansion Trenton Titans of the ECHL, leading them to a 37–29–4 record, good for fourth place in the Northeast Division.

The Titans made short work of the Richmond Renegades in the first round, sweeping them three games to none.

In the second round, they faced off against the Hampton Roads Admirals, and beat them three games to two.

The Titans would then fall four games to two to the Peoria Rivermen, in the semi-finals.

Cassidy then moved to the Detroit Red Wings organization to become head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the IHL.

The club finished with the best record in the league (53–22–7 for 113 points), and they swept the Cleveland Lumberjacks in four games before falling to the Orlando Solar Bears in six 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 points) record, but the team lost in the first round to the Chicago Wolves in five games.

The Washington Capitals of the NHL 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 in second place in the Southeast with a 39–29–8–6 (92 points) record, were seeded sixth in the Eastern Conference and faced the third-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Capitals won the first two games in Tampa Bay, but the Lightning rebounded and won four straight games to eliminate the Capitals.

Cassidy returned as head coach in 2003–04.

However, just 25 games into the season with an 8–16–1 record, he was fired and replaced by assistant coach Glen Hanlon.

The club would go on to finish with the third-worst record in the NHL under Hanlon (23–46–10–3 for 59 points), but won the draft lottery and chose Alexander Ovechkin with their first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Cassidy signed on as an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks in June 2004.

With the NHL lockout cancelling the 2004–05 season, Cassidy was behind the Blackhawks bench as an assistant to head coach Trent Yawney for the 2005–06 season.

The Blackhawks struggled to a 26–43–13 record, earning 65 points and missed the 2006 playoffs.

Cassidy's contract was not renewed.