The Olympic Center — operated by the state Olympic Regional Development Authority — is comprised of the James C. Sheffield Speed Skating Oval, 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, 1932 Jack Shea Arena, USA rink, Lake Placid Conference Center, Lake Placid Olympic Museum, as well as the soon-to-be-completed Miracle Plaza, and Cassidy will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of all.

He comes in at a pivotal time when the final phase of renovations are wrapping up in preparation for the 2023 World University Games, Jan. 12 to 22.

Even with more than two decades of sports and leadership experience, Cassidy is humble and, seemingly, a little bemused to find himself in this position.

“It’s a little bit surreal,” he said. ” Everything’s coming full circle, being back here as general manager. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.”

The general manager job was not something Cassidy ever envisioned for himself, he said. Instead, he’s spent the past 25 years coaching hockey and focusing on developing young athletes, (although he did briefly work at the Olympic Center at age 14 as a “rink rat” during the summer). But he was happy to get the opportunity to return to Lake Placid.

For him, hockey is more than a job or an interest; it’s in his blood.

His grandfather Gerald started the Lake Placid Pee Wee Association, while his father, Rik Cassidy, coached the Lake Placid High School team. Many of his childhood memories are of hanging out in the Olympic Center — on the ice, in the historic locker rooms, watching games — and his house was just up the street from the facility. He didn’t necessarily want to play in the National Hockey League but hoped to play in the Olympics one day, an ambition fueled by the legendary 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game between the U.S. and USSR teams.

As he recounted in the hockey podcast “Never Far from Home,” he was too young to be present at the games, but his father worked the penalty box. The elder Cassidy was present for the moment that would serve to uplift a weary nation and catapult Lake Placid into the international spotlight.

“It was an incredible time, and I can only tell you that it was more of a feel,” he said. “(Now) you walk by the Olympic Center, you feel that same energy, you see those locker rooms, you walk in the rink. It’s going through huge renovations now, but it’s still very true to what it was in 1980. And people still love it, they are still enamored with what happened here.”

When his competitive career ended, Cassidy did what many athletes do and moved on to coaching the game he loved, working with high school and collegiate players. While his career took him outside of Lake Placid sometimes, he always seemed to come back to his hometown. From 2002 to 2006, he coached the former National Sports Academy team, leading them to a league championship win in 2004. He would later come back to coach for the Northwood School team from 2015 to 2021, where, in 2019, he helped them win the New York state championship title and a bronze medal at the national tournament.

Most recently, he served as head coach of the Cape Breton Eagles in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as previous coaching work with the American Hockey League (Rochester), United States Hockey League (Omaha), and the U.S. national team development program.

Cassidy always enjoyed working with the developmental players, helping them not only become better players but better people.

“Obviously every coach wants to win and have a lot of success in your program,” he said. “But I always thought our success should be marked by the type of human beings that we are producing.”

That instinct to lead while building strong relationships should be useful in his new role as general manager. But more than that, Cassidy has the lived experience of he and his family being so involved in the Olympic Center and the winter sports culture of Lake Placid.

“I have a good knowledge of this facility, what its purpose is here and how important it is to the village, town, and the North Country itself. It serves (in) so many different capacities,” he said. “Being born and raised here, I have a lot of ties personally and professionally to the area. So I think that will benefit me in terms of being able to relate to the community and understanding what their needs and desires are for the Olympic Center.”

Meanwhile, construction continues at the Olympic Center amid preparations for the 2023 Winter World University Games, the biggest sporting event Lake Placid has hosted since the 1980 Winter Olympics. Cassidy realizes that there is still work to be completed, but he is confident that he and his team will be well prepared by then.

“The good news for us is that we’ve done this many times before, so we know what to expect,” he said. “I think we have the right people in place and will have our ducks in a row by then. While there might be some stressful times leading up to the event, we’re certainly going to be ready for it.”

Once the major strain of the Games is over, Cassidy envisions that operations at the venue will return to normal. Looking forward, he hopes to bring back a feeling of community to the Olympic Center, something he feels he benefited from and wants to provide for others.

“I would really like to see the Olympic Center and the speedskating oval be the hub of our community as they once were, in terms of events going on there and getting kids more sports opportunities,” he said. “A big part of our mission here is to serve our community, and I want to make sure that we do a really good job with that.”