Mark Morris named Northwood School boys’ hockey head coach

Massena, N.Y., native Mark Morris was the head coach of Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y., from 2004-06. (Northwood School)

After a month of searching, the Northwood School boys’ hockey program has found a new head coach in Mark Morris.

The hiring comes in the wake of six-year head coach Chadd Cassidy departing the program to take up the post of head coach and general manager of the USHL’s Omaha Lancers.

Morris, a 1977 Northwood alumnus, will take over the team this fall starting with the 2021-22 season.

It will mark Northwood’s first season playing in the newly formed Prep Hockey Conference (PHC), a league that will feature six of the top school-based programs in North America.

Morris, a native of Massena, N.Y., spent 14 seasons as the head coach of Clarkson from 1988-2002, where he compiled a record of 306-156-42 and was twice named the ECAC Coach of the Year.

He returned to Northwood for the first time in 2004 and spent two seasons as the team’s head coach, leading the Huskies to their first 40-win season in program history.

In 2006, Morris left his first coaching tenure at Northwood for a head coaching job in the AHL with the Manchester Monarchs – a post he held for seven seasons. He compiled a 339-223-67 record with the Monarchs, before stepping away in 2014.

Since his time at Northwood from 2004-06, Morris has also coached with the Florida Panthers (NHL), Charlotte Checkers (AHL), and, most recently, St. Lawrence (ECAC), where he filled the head coaching vacancy opened by Greg Carvel (Canton, N.Y.), after the Canton, N.Y., native left the program to take over UMass in Hockey East.

“However impressive is his breadth of experience and win/loss record, it is more significant at our age level that Mark is truly one of the game’s best teachers,” Northwood Head of School, Mike Maher, said in a school press release.

“Watching on any day one of his purposeful and upbeat practices, hockey aficionados will appreciate his ability to communicate the intricacies of individual skills and team strategies. At every level he has coached, the players stay on the same page and compete with intensity, character, and sportsmanship.”

Prior to his coaching career, Morris was a defenseman at Northwood, where he graduated in 1977. After graduation, he played four years of D-1 college hockey at Colgate. He then played three seasons in the AHL before entering the coaching realm.

Now, 15 years since he left the Northwood program for the second time, Morris is eager to return for his third stint in Lake Placid, N.Y.

“As a former student-athlete and coach at Northwood School, I am very fortunate to have first-hand experience with the school’s unwavering commitment to both personal growth and the creation of cohesive teams,” Morris said in the press release.

“Northwood’s focus on integrity and a commitment to excellence are among the many reasons the school holds a special place in my heart, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as a hockey coach and mentor to further grow its rich tradition.”

Morris’ predecessor, Cassidy, compiled a 211-56-19 record in six years as the head coach of Northwood, including a New York State championship, as well as a bronze medal at the national tournament.

Liam Flaherty can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @_LiamFlaherty.