Coach Chadd Cassidy while he coached the Rochester Americans of the Buffalo Sabres organization. Photo: Dan Hickling
Chadd Cassidy begins his third year as the Head Coach of the Northwood School Boys Junior Team. A Lake Placid native, Cassidy spent four years with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League before coming to Northwood School in 2015. In his four seasons with Rochester, he led the team to the AHL playoffs three times. He joined the Rochester organization following five seasons as an assistant coach at USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP), culminating in a gold medal at the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Under-18 World Championship in Germany. During the 2010-11 season, he also led Team USA to titles in the 2011 Five Nations Tournament and the 2010 Four Nations Cup. In addition, the U.S. National Under-18 Team posted a 12-9-1-2 (W-L-OTL-SOL) record in United States Hockey League (USHL) play in 2010-11, helping the NTDP reach the USHL postseason for the first time. Chadd earned his Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Cortland in 1995.
On coaching at the prep level
“I think we’re very fortunate at Northwood. We’re very lucky that we have the autonomy to run our program kind of the way we want to. Most prep schools don’t get on the ice as early as we do, they don’t have the time in the weight room that we get, the video time were able to get, so I would say we run [the team] probably like a pro team more than we do anything else.”
On coaching younger players
“Most of it is experience. I think that there are a lot of talented player at both levels, but when you start talking about guys playing, whether it’s in junior or college or pro, they just have a lot more time under their belt, where they have had some bumps and bruises along the way and they were able to learn from it. So mentally, [the older guys] are probably a lot more disciplined and a lot tougher because they have that experience and know how to battle through that adversity a little bit easier.”
What you love most about coaching at Northwood
“The best part of coaching here for me is that we get guys when they are young and really hungry and want to learn, and they got a lot in front of them to shoot for. Our players have aspirations of playing at higher levels, whether that’s just going to junior from, going onto college Division I or Division III and hopefully after that, having the opportunity to play professionally.”
Memorable moment
“Last year’s win against Shattuck at home, obviously, was a game changer for us in terms of the exposure that it gave us. Everything came together there in our tournament in front of our home fans with the packed house against one of the most recognizable prep school hockey programs in North America.”
