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NHL Hockey Stars Charlie McAvoy and Adam Fox Sit On Advisory Board

By Nick Blaesser, 11/18/21 | lancers.com

OMAHA, NE. – Omaha Lancers have named Gary Graham as its interim head coach replacing Chadd Cassidy, who stepped down earlier to pursue other opportunities. Graham joins the Lancers from the Indiana Jr. Fuel U18 team. Graham spent the majority of his coaching career as Head Coach for six years of the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. Graham’s coaching career started in 2008-2009 as an assistant coach with the USHL Indiana Ice. Throughout his 15+ years of professional coaching, Graham has been a part of the coaching staff that won the USHL Clark Cup, the IHL Turner Cup as well as CHL and SPHL championships. Graham also spent the 2019-2020 season in Beijing as Head Coach of ORG Beijing that competes in the Russian pro league while also helping build the Chinese National team that will compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“We are delighted and excited to have Gary Graham step in and lead our Omaha Lancers hockey club. His vast experience at all levels is well suited for the challenges of a USHL schedule. We believe Gary will play a major role in the development of our club,” said DeLuca. “We were searching for the right fit and believe Gary is the ideal person to move us forward. At the same time we wish Chadd Cassidy the very best and appreciate his overall efforts with our organization.”

“I am honored to serve as the new Head Coach of the Omaha Lancers and appreciate this wonderful opportunity in the USHL,” said Graham. “I appreciate the confidence the organization has shown me. I cannot wait to go to work and help these young men develop their skills on and off the ice.”

Separately, the Omaha Lancers announce the formation of its Hockey Advisory Board. The purpose of the advisory board is to provide strategic hockey advice to senior management from a detached and diversified perspective for a broad range of matters including hockey leadership, the future direction of the game of hockey, and to provide experienced counsel to Omaha Lancers players, coaches and staff as they progress along their path in hockey. The initial members of the Hockey Advisory Board are Steve Hagwell, Lou Vairo, Charlie McAvoy, Adam Fox and Dan Marshall. Pat Dapuzzo will chair the Hockey Advisory Board.

November 18, 2021 neutralzone.net

The Omaha Lancers (USHL) announced today that head coach Chadd Cassidy had “stepped down” and Gary Graham has been hired as interim head coach to replace him. However, multiple outlets have reported, and sources have confirmed to Neutral Zone, that Cassidy was fired last week by team president David DeLuca.

The team then asked Cassidy to coach last week’s games because they did not have enough coaches available to run the team, and Cassidy agreed so as to not punish the players.

Cassidy was just hired this past July.

Per sources, Cassidy and the team were at odds over severe budget cuts. The team stopped providing postgame meals after some games and some players were supplying their own equipment. In addition, the team’s video software subscription was reportedly canceled and according to one report, the trainer was being asked to double as the equipment manager.

According to multiple reports, most (if not all) of the remaining hockey operations staff resigned today in support of Cassidy. The players refused to take the ice for practice and will reportedly boycott this weekend’s scheduled games.

According to multiple sources, team president David DeLuca had an altercation with a member of the coaching staff today, which sparked the wave of resignations among those in hockey operations and sparked the subsequent boycott by the players.

Assistant coach Tate Maris told The Athletic that “ownership’s lack of commitment to provide adequate resources, combined with management’s poor behavior toward players and coaches” pushed him to resign.

“I’m proud of our guys and how they handled this,” Maris said to The Athletic. “These are kids who had to make a very very tough decision that in the end, I think will impact their careers positively, and I’m very proud with how they handled it. It’s been a tough day, but I feel very good that a stand is being made and that the kids are taking their hockey career and future into their own hands, which takes guts to do.”

The Lancers said in a release announcing the hiring of Graham that Cassidy “stepped down earlier to pursue other opportunities,” but multiple sources have confirmed that is not true.

The Lancers are owned by Anthony DiCesare.

The USHL released a statement on Thursday afternoon that read:

“We are aware of the reports about the Omaha Lancers and are actively working to resolve this matter. We have standards we take seriously in order to provide the best possible experience for all players who participate in the USHL.”