McLaughlin is the latest in a long line of Bruins to play for York at Boston College over the last three decades. The Billerica native joins Tommy Cross, Andrew Alberts, Jimmy Hayes, Paul Carey, Bobby Allen, Brian Gionta, Chuck Kobasew, and Marty Reasoner as players developed under York to then don the Spoked-B.
"Tommy [Cross] is one of the nicest guys I've ever coached," said Cassidy. "He's going to be an excellent coach, if that's the path he chooses. He was a student of the game who I thought was really good with the younger guys early on in his career. Very professional. Marc [McLaughlin] seems very professional.
"So, the guys that we've got from Jerry are typically ready - walk through the door, good work habits, good people, not like you have to tell them what's going on with the team. They just seem to get it when it comes to getting ready to play."
Cassidy was nearly one of the dozens of players to make it to the National Hockey League after learning from the winningest college hockey coach of all time. The Bruins' six-year head coach was recruited as a 16-year-old by York, who was then in charge at Bowling Green.
York, however, told Cassidy that he would have to wait a year to join Bowling Green because he had defenseman Dave Ellett and Gary Galley waiting in the wings - an offer that Cassidy was still willing to take. But in the interim, the Ottawa native was drafted by his hometown OHL team, the Ottawa 67's, and elected instead to go the junior route.
"I crossed paths with Jerry a long time ago, so it was good to catch up to him here in the hallways," said Cassidy, who added that Colgate was also an option for him had he opted to play college hockey. "When I first got hired and kind of reminisced about those things, I didn't even think he'd remember, to be honest with you. He did."
Cassidy went on to play three seasons with the 67's and was drafted 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983. But a knee injury hampered Cassidy's NHL career and limited him to just 36 games over six seasons from 1983-90 before he embarked on a coaching career of his own.
"I graduated from high school, and so I was ready to go [to college] if need be…my parents were naive when it came to hockey - it wasn't like it is now," Cassidy recalled. "The coach I lived with was in Tier II hockey and told me, 'Listen, you're going to be a high draft pick…you might want to wait and make your decision.'
"So, that's what I did because I didn't know a lot about the process. And I would go to see the 67 games when I was home on the weekends because I was from Ottawa and they were playing Oshawa in the playoffs…I don't regret it. We won a Memorial Cup in junior hockey. But it would have been great to have that college experience."
McLaughlin lived that experience for the past four years - one that was made that much more impactful because of York's leadership and kindness.
"He had so much respect for everyone in the community - the impact he had on the entire BC community was huge," said McLaughlin. "Whether it was a coach or his players…he brought the custodian in, the guy who comes in at night and changes our barrels, brings him in and gives him a shirt, a BC hat.
"He really made such a huge impact and you had to kind of be there to recognize how much he did for the school and for the hockey program. He's just such a great human."
