Cashman was born in Kingston Ontario Canada on June 24th 1945. His family owned a farm just outside Kingston where he spent his childhood. Cashman began playing hockey at an early age and would listen to hockey on the radio every night.[1] He played for the Kingston peewee team that won an Ontario championship and later played Junior B hockey for the Frontenacs.[2]
Playing career
Early career (1962-68)
Cashman played junior hockey in the OHA with the Oshawa Generals; one of his teammates was Bobby Orr. He made his debut for the team appearing in a singular game during the 1962–63 season. He then made 27 appearances for the Generals the following year scoring 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points.[3] That same year during the 1964-65 season Cashman at the age of 19 who was an un drafted free agent made his first appearance for the Boston Bruins appearing in one game.[4]
Cashman then returned to Oshawa for his final year with the club during the 1965–66 season, and scored 35 point season in 17 games. He had an even better postseason, having 37 points in 14 games as his side was a finalist in the Memorial Cup.[3] Cashman then joined the Boston Bruins farm club the Oklahoma City Blazers for the 1966–67 season. In 70 appearances Cashman scored 20 goals and 36 assists as the Blazers finished first in the regular season. During the postseason Cashman appeared in all 11 games contributing 3 goals and 4 assists as he and the Blazers defeated the Omaha Knights to win the Adams Cup.[3] The following year in 1967–68 Cashman appeared in 42 games with the Blazers being a point per game player scoring 21 goals and 30 assists. This productivity led to him being called up to the Bruins to finish out the year playing in 12 games he recorded his first NHL points with 4 assists.[3]
Boston Bruins career (1968-1983)
For the start of the 1968-69 season Cashman played 21 games for the Bruins AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. Following his brief stint with the Bears he was then called up to the Bruins where he would score his first NHL goal on November 6, 1968 in Boston's 7-1 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.[5] He would finish out the rest of the season with the Bruins playing 51 games, scoring 8 goals and 23 assists. From here Cashman would play his entire NHL career with the Boston Bruins (1964–65, 1967–83). His jersey number was 12.[6]
He was a hard-grinding left winger on the era's most formidable forward line with centre Phil Esposito and right wing Ken Hodge.[7] His role was to get into the corners and battle for loose pucks, and feed them to Esposito or Hodge. He was also a tenacious forechecker and served as an enforcer to protect Esposito and Orr.[8] Esposito has regarded Cashman as underrated and not receiving sufficient credit, saying, "Wayne was the digger. He was the heart and soul of our line. Without a doubt."[9] This has led to him being described as the perfect teammate being and one of the best cornermen in the history of the NHL.[10] Bobby Orr later stated “If you needed him to do something for your team, he could play anywhere you wanted.[11]
Throughout his career Cashman embodied the Bruins style of grit and determination. Not being afraid to get into the dirty areas and dig hard along the boards. This led to him becoming favorite among Bruins fans as he developed the nickname ‘Cash’, from his fellow teammates and Bruins fans alike. Throughout his career he also developed a reputation to as a clutch player for the team during the postseason.[12][13] Also becoming a established leader for team as his career went on.[14]
Cashman’s first full season with the Bruins came during the 1969-70 season, in which he would appear in 70 games tallying 9 goals and 26 assists. The Bruins made the postseason that and Cashman was a key player in their postseason. Appearing in 14 games Cashman scored both his first playoff goal and assists finishing with 9 points as the Bruins defeated both New York and Chicago to reach the 1970 Stanley Cup finals where they defeated the St Louis Blues 4-0.[3][15]
During his career Cashman would get into many scraps on the ice, being known as one of the best fighters of his era throwing his signature uppercut.[13] Along with being a playmaker Cashman also served as the Bruins policeman. In the age of "Big Bad Bruins," he was one of the biggest and baddest. If the opposition started to get confrontational with Esposito or Orr, Cashman would be the first to intervene.[13]
In just his second year during the 1970-71 season Cashman’s scoring doubled as he averaged a point per game in 77 appearances scoring 21 goals and 58 assists for 79 points, finishing as one of leads top scorers.[16] This started a streak of him scoring 20+ goals in four straight seasons from 1971-1974 when he also incurred 100 or more penalty minutes. In total he scored at least 20 goals 8 times throughout his career. That year he and the Bruins finished with the leagues best record but were upset by the Montreal Canadians in the first round.[17] Cashman’s scoring declined the following year in 1971-72 but was still and effective contributor scoring 23 goals and 29 assists in 74 games. The Bruins once again finished with the leagues best record, and during the postseason Cashman’s scored 4 goals and 7 assists as the Bruins defeated both Toronto and St Louis to reach the 1972 Stanley Cup finals. Cashman scored twice in the deciding game of the latter finals against the New York Rangers, won by Boston, 3-0, as he and the Bruins won their second Stanley Cup in 3 years.[3][18]
In 1972 he played for Team Canada in the first four games of the Summit Series. Before the final four games, at an exhibition game in Sweden, Ulf Sterner's stick got lodged in Cashman's mouth, cutting his tongue open. The injury required 50 stitches and kept him out of the rest of the Summit Series.[19][20]
The 1972-73 season seen Cashman score his first career hat trick on January 21st 1973 Cashman with all 3 goals coming in the second period of a 8-2 victory over the California Golden seals.[21] He finished the year 29 goals and 39 assists in 76 games as he and the Bruins lost in the first round of the playoffs.[3] The following year in 1973-74 seen Cashman’s best statistical season, when he finished fourth in the league in points with 89 (30 goals 59 assists) played in the All-Star Game, and was named to the NHL Second All-Star team. That year he joined his teammates Esposito (145), Orr (122) and Hodge (105) where they finished 1–2–3–4 in league scoring this was the second and last time in NHL history the season's top four scorers all played for one team.[22] During the postseason Cashman scored 14 points in 16 games as the Bruins reached the 1974 Stanley Cup finals where they were defeated by Philadelphia 4-2.[23]
During the 1974-75 season Cashman only appeared in 42 games scoring 11 goals and 22 assists.[3] This was due to a ruptured disc in his back which ended up requiring surgery. Cashman suffered from back pain throughout most of his career which started after he had crashed into a goal post during the 1972-73 season developing back pain.[24][25] This led to Cashman being known for his physical and mental toughness throughout his career, as he never let his back injury slow him down. Bruins GM Harry Sinden later stated “I can’t believe there’s ever been a player who had a higher pain tolerance than him,” “I’ve seen him lying on the training room floor 20 minutes before a game for his back. He was constantly in pain and, if we had a game, he was still going out to play. Not in all my years, have I ever seen a player who could tolerate pain like him.”[11]
Cashman made a full comeback the following year in 1975-76 playing in all 80 games for the first and only time of his career scoring 28 goals and 43 assists for 71 points.[3] He and the Bruins advanced to the semifinals where they were defeated by Philadelphia 4-1.[26] Cashman missed 15 games during the 1976-77 season due to his back issues he still scored 15 goals and 37 assists during the regular season.[3] However by the postseason Cashman had made full recovery appearing in all 14 games scoring 9 points as the Bruins reached the 1977 Stanley Cup finals, however they were swept by Montreal 4-0.[27]
At the start of the 1977-78 season Cashman was named captain of the Bruins a position he held till his retirement in 1983. Even in his later years Cashman still served as a consistent point scorer. As during his first year as captain g as he was part of a historic 11 Bruins players that year who scored 20+ goals that season.[28] Cashman and the Bruins once again made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals but were once again defeated by Montreal 4-2.[29] The following year in 1978-79 Cashman scored 27 goals and 67 points in 75 games. However the Bruins once again lost to Montreal in the semifinals.[30]
Cashman only appeared in 44 games during the 1979-80 season after suffering both back and knee problems he scored 11 goals and 21 assists.[31] He made a full return for the postseason however the Bruins were defeated in the second round. Cashman played 77 games during the 190-81 season and had his list 20+ goal season with 25 goals and 35 assists.[3] The Bruins were then eliminated in the first round of the postseason. Cashman still had a productive season the following year in 1981-82 but scoring 12 goals and 31 assists, but only appeared in 64 games.[3] The Bruins reached the divisional round of the playoffs but were defeated by Quebec. Cashman’s last season came the following year during the 1982-83 season where he appeared in 65 games scoring 4 goals and 11 assists. retiring after the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs in 1983.
He was the last active player from the NHL's Original Six era, just beating out Serge Savard, whose team was eliminated in an earlier playoff round. He finished his career with 1,027 games played 277 goals and 516 assists being a reliable player for the team his entire career. He was the 2nd player in Bruins history to play his 1000th career game and the first to play all 1000 solely in Bruins uniform. He still remains a legendary figure in the city of Boston.[32]
In late 2024 there was a push among Bruins fans and former players to have Cashman’s number 12 retired. His former teammate Phil Esposito stated “Personally, I think number 12 should be up there for Wayne Cashman, who played for 18 years for that team, was captain for four years, coached the team, and gave his life's blood to the Bruins,”. “He should be up there.” The Bruins alumni organization would discuss the topic with team president Cam Neely however as of 2025 there has been no official decision.[33][34]
Coaching career
After his retirement as a player, Cashman went into business for himself. However when his old teammate Phil Esposito became general manager of the New York Rangers he hired Cashman as a scout. Then when the Rangers fired their head coach Esposito had Cashman help coach the team, and subsequently when they hired their new head coach Tom Webster he asked Cashman to stay on as an assistant, which he did for five seasons.[1] He then served four years as an assistant for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 1992-93 till 1995-96.[35] Esposito described Cashman as coach stating "He's a special guy because he can handle any kind of situation with a player, whether that player likes him or not."[36] Following this he served as an assistant coach for the San Jose Sharks for one season in 1996-97.[37]
He was then appointed head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers for the 1997-98 season and held that post for 61 games coaching the team to a 32-20-9 record, until he was replaced by Roger Neilson; he served thereafter as the team's assistant coach till the 1999-2000 season.[38][39][40][41] He also on the coaching staff of Team Canada in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, as an assistant to Marc Crawford.[42][43] Cashman then spent the 2000-01 season as head coach of the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL. He coached the team to a 27-40 record missing the postseason.[44] He then returned to Boston as an assistant coach with the Bruins from 2001 until 2006.
Cashman is married to his wife Lynn and now resides in Florida he has two children, a son, Scott, and a daughter, Becky. He also serves as a Grandfather to his four granddaughters.[1][13]
In a somewhat notorious moment, after the Boston Bruins won the 1970 Stanley Cup, Cashman got drunk, and with heavy traffic at a busy intersection, Cashman got out of the back seat of the car he and his teammates had been in and stepped out into an intersection, and started to direct traffic. This resulted in him getting arrested, and using his one phone call to order Chinese food.[46]
↑"Archived copy". www.sjjerseys.com. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑writer, John F. Bonfatti, Associated Press. "Cashman, Flyers close deal". New Bedford Standard-Times. Retrieved 2025-07-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑writer, John F. Bonfatti, Associated Press. "Cashman, Flyers close deal". New Bedford Standard-Times. Retrieved 2025-12-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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