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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Andrew Cassels is joining the Ohio State University women’s ice hockey staff as the interim associate head coach, team officials announced on Monday.

The 17th pick in the 1987 NHL Draft, Cassels enjoyed a 16-year NHL career with stops in Montreal, Hartford, Calgary, Vancouver, Washington and Columbus. He tallied 732 points during his career, including a career year with the Hartford Whalers in the 1992-93 season where he scored 85 points from 21 goals and 64 assists. Cassels appeared in 1,015 games during his NHL career.

“Having an opportunity to coach at this level itself is great, but being asked to join The Ohio State University is truly an honor,” Cassels said. “Opportunities like this don’t come around that often and I’m incredibly excited by the prospect of coaching at this level.”

A respected locker room voice during his playing career, Cassels transitioned to coaching once his playing career ended. “A couple weeks after I retired I jumped right into coaching with my oldest son’s AAA program. I also spent a year with the Cincinnati Cyclones in the ECHL. My family was prepared to move down to Cincinnati, but at the time it didn’t feel right to put them in a place where we could have to bounce around from place to place again, so I resigned my position with the Cyclones.” After a season on the bench with the Cyclones, Cassels settled into a coaching position with the AAA Blue Jackets program, keeping him around the Columbus area.