Knights coach relishes chance to represent country: ‘To me, it’s an honor’

Bruce Cassidy always dreamed about going to the Olympics.

Doing so as a player was always going to be a stretch. Not because of the Golden Knights coach’s skill set as a defenseman, but because the International Olympic Committee didn’t start allowing NHL players into the Games until 1998. Players were only allowed to represent their countries in non-Olympic tournaments.

Cassidy did get to don the Team Canada sweater in 1987 during a non-Olympic year. It was more a recovery assignment than anything. The Chicago Blackhawks assigned him to the national team to rehab from a knee injury.

But it was always in the back of his mind that it would be awesome to represent his country on a huge stage. He’ll get the chance to do so at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February as one of the assistants on Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper’s staff.

“For me, it’s an honor,” Cassidy told the Review-Journal. “It was different then. We didn’t have the NHL guys there. Now, it’s the best of the best, so to speak.”

Cassidy was supposed to be part of Team Canada’s coaching staff for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. It was meant to be the NHL’s grand return to the Games for the first time since 2014.

Concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic caused the league to back out two months before the Olympics were set to start. To say Cassidy was disappointed would be an understatement.

“That was a bummer,” Cassidy said. “You’re getting organized, and suddenly they pull the plug. It was, to me, I don’t know when I’m going to have another opportunity. As a coach, you do have longevity, but still, you don’t know. There could be a cycle of other guys in two years, four years.”

‘Freeflow of information’

Cassidy will join Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer — who was also supposed to be on Team Canada’s staff in 2022 when he was still with the Knights — Dallas assistant coach Misha Donskov and Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet on Cooper’s staff.

“You look at how many fantastic Canadian coaches are out there in our league, I didn’t take this decision lightly on who was going to be chosen,” Cooper said.

Being in these coaches meetings has been different for Cassidy. He’s used to taking the lead and running things. With this group, he can take a step back and just give his input.

What helps, Cassidy said, is there’s no dominant personality leading the room. Four NHL coaches and one rising assistant check their egos at the door to hammer out the best way to get Canada to win the tournament, which takes place Feb. 12-20 in Boston and Montreal.

“I think that’s what I’ve enjoyed about the staff,” Cassidy said. “We still have humor in there, we have a good time. Even though we have responsibility and have led teams, I think we go in there with an open mind and try to work together. It’s been great.”

Cooper, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Lightning, joked he would often leave coaches meetings thinking, “I’m clearly not the smartest guy in the room because there’s some great hockey minds there.”

Cooper said the “freeflow of information that goes on with some of the best coaches to ever coach this game” has been a rewarding experience.

“As soon as you bring up Canada and you put the jersey on and you put the Canadian hat on, honestly, the NHL teams become second and Canada’s first,” Cooper said. “Nobody’s hiding trade secrets. Everybody’s going through systems with a fine-toothed comb and why this works, why this doesn’t, and which one is the best for our team.”

Olympics still a dream

Cassidy said he would love nothing more than for his 4 Nations stint to carry over to the 2026 Olympics in Italy. The Ottawa, Ontario, native has been in the United States for more than half his life as a player and coach, but his roots are still grounded in Canada.

Especially with hockey, Cassidy said, it’s hard to remove the pride of being Canadian. He’s resigned to the fact that his U.S.-born children, Shannon and Cole, may likely root for the United States over their dad’s team, but there’s that sense of wanting to show why Canada is the best at the sport.

Cassidy may not have gotten the chance to prove that as a player. He’ll do whatever he can to do so as a coach.

“You have to just feel like it’s our game. We feel that we’re a smaller country, but it’s the one thing we do better than everybody,” Cassidy said. “Now whether that’s true or not anymore, I don’t know, but we still feel that way and take a lot of pride in it. And I think when Canada wins in any hockey event, people there are pretty damn excited.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.