Frederic Cassivi was born June 12, 1975 in Sorel, Quebec. The 9th round choice, 210th overall selection of the Ottawa Senators in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Cassivi is a graduate of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
The goaltender from Sorel, Quebec spent two seasons in the "Q" with stops in St-Hyacinthe, Halifax and St-Jean before making his professional hockey debut with the Senators organization in 1995-96.
In his first season with the Senators organization, Cassivi split his season between the AHL's Prince Edward Island Senators and the Colonial Hockey League's Thunder Bay Senators before joining the AHL's Syracuse Crunch in 1996-97.
Following a one year stint in Syracuse, Cassivi found himself with the AHL's Worcester IceCats in 1997-98 where he had his third straight 20-win season before joining the IHL's Cincinnati Cyclones in 1998-99, his fourth team in four years.
Prior to the 1999-2000 season, the Colorado Avalanche signed Cassivi as a free agent, and he went on to play two full seasons with the team's AHL affiliate in Hershey leading all AHL goaltenders with a 1.49 GAA in the 2001 AHL playoffs and was the starting goaltender for the Canadian Team at the 2001 AHL All-Star Game.
The 2001 AHL Man of the Year nominee for the Bears, Cassivi was acquired by the Atlanta Thrashers midway through the 2001-02 NHL season. After beginning his third season in Hershey, Cassivi split the remainder of the 2001-02 season with the Thrashers and the team's AHL affiliate and Calder Cup champion Chicago Wolves. Cassivi saw only two games of NHL action in 2002-03, but remained the number one goaltender for the AHL's Wolves.