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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Cassidy Named AHL Coach of the Year

April 11, 2002 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids, MI - Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Bruce Cassidy on Thursday was named the winner of the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the American Hockey League's Coach of the Year for the 2001-02 season, as voted by members of the media in each of the league's 27 cities.

Cassidy, 36, guided the Griffins to a 42-27-11-0 record and a first place finish in the West Division, the league's strongest in terms of combined winning percentage (0.550). Grand Rapids' 42 wins and 24 home wins led the Western Conference and placed second overall in the league, and its 21-10-1 record outside its division was unmatched on the circuit.

A defenseman during his playing career, Cassidy built his team around defense and goaltending. The Griffins allowed a league-low 178 goals in 80 games, the second-lowest total in league history, while also surrendering the fewest shots (2,027). Grand Rapids earned renown as a team that was difficult to beat once it had a lead. Its records of 35-3-6 when scoring first and 19-1-3 when leading after the first period were the league's best, as was its undefeated mark of 35-0-4 when taking a lead into the third period.

The Griffins owned the AHL's best overall record for much of the season despite facing an endless string of adversities. Cassidy's squad lost a total of 451 man-games to injuries, recalls and the Olympic Games, and 12 of his players earned ice time in the National Hockey League.

Grand Rapids absorbed the loss of center Kip Miller, who was leading the league in scoring when he signed with the New York Islanders on January 16, and left wing Petr Schastlivy, who was tied for the AHL's goal scoring lead when he sustained a season-ending knee injury while playing for the Ottawa Senators on December 29. Among the more significant injuries the Griffins endured, First Team All-Star goalie Martin Prusek missed 30 games and more than two months of action after suffering a knee injury in early December. Cassidy and assistant coach Gene Reilly persevered by instilling the Griffins' system into 17 call-ups and free agents from the lower minor league and collegiate ranks, eight of whom contributed goals during their time in Grand Rapids.

"This award is always a reflection of the players," said Cassidy. "The coach does his thing, certainly, but the players are the ones who go out and perform. If they don't play well, you don't look good no matter how hard you work. I'm not naive enough to think that one guy makes the difference. The credit goes to all the guys in the room.

"Personally, though, it is a great honor. There are 27 coaches in this league who work their tails off, and there are a number of guys this year who are deserving of recognition," said Cassidy.

Cassidy becomes the second Griffins bench boss in three seasons to merit Coach of the Year honors, following Guy Charron's award from the International Hockey League in 1999-2000. A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Cassidy has collected numerous team and personal honors during his six-year head coaching career. He has posted an overall record of 95-49-18 (0.642) in two seasons with Grand Rapids, winning the IHL's regular season championship last year and becoming the team's all-time winningest coach earlier this season.

In each of his three seasons as a head coach at the AAA level, Cassidy has been chosen to coach in an all-star game. He was the head coach of the PlanetUSA team at the 2002 AHL All-Star Game, after serving as co-coach for the IHL squad at that league's 2001 event and as an assistant coach for the IHL's Eastern Conference unit in 1999, his only season as head coach of the Indianapolis Ice.

The Pieri Award, instituted during the 1967-68 season, honors the late Louis A. R. Pieri, a long-time contributor to the American Hockey League as owner of the Providence Reds. Seven of the last 11 men to earn the AHL's Coach of the Year award are now behind an NHL bench, including five head coaches: the New York Islanders' Peter Laviolette (1999 Providence), Calgary's Greg Gilbert (1997 Worcester), Boston's Robbie Ftorek (1995-96 Albany), Nashville's Barry Trotz (1994 Portland) and Vancouver's Marc Crawford (1993 St. John's). Buffalo associate coach Don Lever (1991 Rochester) and St. Louis assistant Jim Roberts (1990 Springfield) also won the Pieri Award.

The Pieri Award is the fourth major AHL honor collected by the Griffins in the last week. After Grand Rapids claimed the Bud Poile Trophy as West Division champs on Saturday and the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award for outstanding team goaltending on Monday, Martin Prusek was named the recipient of the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender on Wednesday.

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