Kasper began his hockey career with the Verdun Eperviers and the Sorel Black Hawks in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. After topping the 100 point mark twice during the 1978–79 and 1979–80 seasons. He was chosen 81st overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Kasper immediately earned a spot on the roster, playing a total of 76 games and scoring 51 points during the 1980–81 season. During his second year he emerged as one of the best checking centers of the game and was subsequently awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 1981–82. Kasper would miss most of the 1982-83 season with torn capsule in left shoulder. The injury required arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage on Nov. 9, 1982, and then major reconstructive surgery on Dec. 7, 1982, Kasper continued to experience trouble in four games played with Boston from Nov. 21-27, 1983. He did not return till Boston's March 24, 1983, game vs. St. Louis. He would also miss most of the following year during the 1983-84 season with separated left shoulder, an injury suffered during Boston's Nov. 24, 1983, game vs. Quebec. The injury required surgery on Jan. 7, 1984, it was re-aggravated when Kasper returned to action too early in February 1984. After re-aggravating the injury, he did not return to Boston's lineup until March 20, 1984. He would make a full recovery the following year appearing in 77 games and continued to be a significant part of the team. Scoring the bruins only hat trick of the 1984-85 season on Nov. 25, 1984, vs. Montreal. Kasper would then continue to be a top defensive player for the bruins for the next 2 seasons. Then in 1987–88, Kasper would have his best statistical with 70 points in 76 games (26 goals 44 assists) As the Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers, 4–0 with one tie. He finished the season runner up to Guy Carbonneau for Selke Trophy. After playing half of the next season with the Bruins Kasper was traded to the Los Angeles Kings for Bobby Carpenter in 1988–89. Kasper enjoyed some success with the Kings playing with Wayne Gretzky and Bernie Nicholls before being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1991–92. He played a for Philadelphia in 1991–92 and a quarter of the 1992-93 season before in being traded again to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Kasper played in 47 games with the Bolts retiring at the end of the season.[1]
Even though Kasper’s physical stature wasn’t impressive only being 5’8″ and 175 lbs, Kasper showed tremendous will and effort in the game of hockey his whole career and didn’t let anything get in his way.
During his time with the Bruins Kasper’s job was to shadow Wayne Gretzky when the team played Edmonton due to his defensive excellence. During these match ups he would gain notoriety for being one of the few players that could effectively shut Gretzky down with his shadowing strategy.[2][3]
Coaching career
Kasper returned to Boston as an assistant coach to Brian Sutter. On July 22, 1994, he was named the head coach of the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. He led the Bruins to a 39-30-11 record during the regular season. Then leading them to the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated from contention. Kasper then again returned to Boston in 1995–96 to replace Sutter as head coach. He led the Bruins to a 91-point season. Resulting in a first-round exit to the Florida Panthers. The following year the bruins would only win 26 games in the 1996-97 season, Kasper was fired and replaced by Pat Burns. This marked the first time in 28 years the Bruins had missed the playoffs.
On May 3, 2007, Kasper became the new head coach of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (CJAHL) team, the Yarmouth Mariners. The team had finished last place the year before he took the position. But Kasper would completely turn team the team around leading them to a first-place finish in the regular season with a 42-12-4 record, winning the Eastlink division Championship and then winning the 2008 Kent Cup championship title vs Woodstock Slammers 4–2 in a best of 7 series.
Kasper was then hired as director of pro scouting for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2013. Holding the position for two years before being fired on Sunday, April 12, 2015, the day after the team's last game of the season.[4]
After this Kasper would go to China serving as the head coach of the Chinas U18 team in 2017–18. Coaching them to a 2-2-0- record.
He would then move into an assistant position at Kunlun Red Star from 2018-2020. He completed the 2017-2018 season as an assistant coach responsible for the forward group and penalty killing units. Upon completion of KHL season, he was hired as the head coach of the Kunlun Red Star MHL team (Juniors) then being asked to return to the KHL in an assistant role to focus on defense and penalty killing.
Kasper would serve as the head coach of DVTK Jegesmedvék for one season in 2023–24.
Most recently in 2024 Kasper took over as the head coach of HC Presov in Slovakia. Under Kasper’s guidance the team greatly improved and went 27-4 leading them to a first-place finish in the regular season.[5] But just before the start of the playoffs Kasper stepped down as coach to go back to Canada to deal with a serious family issue.[6] Kasper time as coach set the team up perfectly for the postseason as they went on to win the league championship and get promoted to Slovak Extraliga.
Kasper is married and has 2 sons Jordan and Michael. Kasper who enjoyed his time with the Bruins still resides in Massachusetts living in Andover.
Kasper started his own company in 1998 called Kasper Sports Management International. He would serve as a sports agent from 1998 to 2009, one of his clients was Chris Bourque son of his former teammate Ray Bourque.[8]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
