Director of Goaltending Development Announcement
Grand Rapids Blades Director of Goaltender Development
Coach John Cassady – CEP Level 3
USA Hockey Bronze Certified Goaltending Instructor
John Cassady is entering his fifth year with the Blades taking up the Director of Goaltending position in the program. Over the past few years, he 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 get back to specializing in goaltending, developing the next generation of goalies, and refining 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”.