Hockey Operations

director@grblades.org

Steve grew up in the Detroit area and started playing hockey on the neighborhood rink. He played travel hockey around Detroit and three years of high school hockey.

In 2006, Steve began coaching at The Hockey Academy at Western Michigan University. While in Kalamazoo, he also worked with the Kalamazoo Wings ECHL team and Puckmasters Kalamazoo in hockey operations and coaching roles for several years.

Steve has been an assistant coach for Grand Rapids Christian High School since 2020/2021. He also coaches in the Michigan Developmental Hockey League (MDHL), focusing on the West Michigan Green Team and the U15 AAA tournament team. In addition to coaching, Steve scouts for the Trenton Golden Hawks Junior A hockey team in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL).

Steve is enthusiastic about assuming the role of Blades Hockey Director. He possesses a profound dedication to player development and is committed to demonstrating that increased effort correlates directly with improved outcomes. Belief in oneself is foundational to achieving success. If you believe it, you’ll see it.

goaltending@grblades.org

USA Hockey Silver Certified Goaltending Instructor

John Cassady has been with the Blades organization since the 2019-2020 season. In 2023 he took over the Director of Goaltending position in the program. During his time with us, John worked with the 2010s (squirt and peewee AA) and 2008s (bantam A and AA). Before joining the Blades, John grew up in Grand Rapids and played travel hockey here in town and in Lansing. He worked and coached with Jason Muzzatti, current Goaltender Development Coach for the Carolina Hurricanes for ten years. John then went to Purdue University where he played four years for the Boilermakers. His senior season, they won the conference championship and John won the goalie of the year award. 

John is excited to work with the goalies in our organization to develop the next generation of goalies, and refine their skills. Movement, positioning, and flexibility will be the main points of focus that John and the goalies will work on. He believes in and expects hard work from his goalies, but at the end of the day it is all about growing the love of the game. John’s coaching philosophy can be summed up by the simple phrase “have fun, stop pucks”.