Frederic Cassivi Elected to AHL Hall of Fame

The American Hockey League has announced former Bears goaltender Frederic Cassivi will be inducted to the AHL Hall of Fame in January. The 2006 AHL Playoff MVP lead the Bears to their ninth Calder Cup in 2005-06, along with Bruce Boudreau, who was inducted in 2009.

The American Hockey League’s press release on Cassivi:

A native of Sorel, Que., Frederic Cassivi spent most of his 15 professional seasons in the American Hockey League, becoming one of the most successful goaltenders of the league’s modern era.

Cassivi was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 1994 and won 20 games for their AHL affiliate in Charlottetown, P.E.I., as a rookie in 1995-96. After stops in Syracuse and Worcester, Cassivi signed with the Colorado Avalanche and was selected to represent the Hershey Bears at the AHL All-Star Classic in 2001.

Cassivi was acquired by the Atlanta Thrashers and made his NHL debut in 2002, and later that season he helped the Chicago Wolves capture the Calder Cup championship in their first year as members of the American Hockey League. After two more seasons with Chicago, Cassivi joined the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and set career bests with a 2.07 goals-against average, a .928 save percentage and 10 shutouts in 2004-05.

Signing with the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2005 brought Cassivi back to Hershey, and he followed a 34-19-6 record in the 2005-06 regular season with a 16-5 run through the playoffs, earning the Jack Butterfield Trophy as postseason MVP and bringing the Bears a Calder Cup championship.

Cassivi played two more seasons in Hershey, making a return trip to the Calder Cup Finals in 2007, and retired having played 500 regular-season games in the AHL – one of only seven goaltenders in league history to reach that plateau – and ranking fifth all-time with 232 wins.