Chad Cassel remembers skating onto the ice at the Illinois Ice Arena for the first time when he was 5 years old.

Back then, he could only have imagined skating on that ice as a member of the Illini hockey team, earning First-Team All-CSCHL honors and Second-Team All-America honors during a two-year playing career at Illinois. It would’ve been only a pipe dream to think he would go on to be the head coach of the only team in ACHA history to go undefeated in a season, become the winningest coach in Illinois history or win two national championships. He wasn’t thinking that he was going to be inducted into the Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame.

He was just having fun playing the game he’d grow to love. A game that would consume his time and life every year, whether he was playing or coaching, until now.

When the Illini lost in the ACHA tournament this season, Cassel had officially coached his last game at Illinois. For the first time in nearly two decades, Cassel is not going to spend his summer getting ready for the ACHA season or spend his winters traveling across the country to try to win games. Now begins life after hockey, and Cassel is going to focus on being a husband and father.

“My wife already has my time slots filled,” Cassel said with a laugh. “I have a lot going on, on campus with my real estate that I own and manage. I have three small children, so I’m looking forward to spending more time with them, every afternoon and every weekend. It won’t be easy at first, but it’ll be nice to spend some more time with family doing things that we want to do.”

It’s fitting that Cassel ended his ACHA career in the same place it started. On March 3, the Illini lost 4-5 to Ohio, the same school Cassel played for his first two years before transferring to Illinois.

“I had friends back here playing that I’d grown up playing with, and there was a coaching change at Ohio University,” Cassel said. “My girlfriend, who was going to Ohio State, was transferring here, and it was nice to finish my hockey career here.”

Cassel graduated from Illinois in 1995 with a degree in economics and took a year off from hockey. It’s the only year he can remember taking off from the game since he first started playing. He would rejoin the Illini as an assistant coach for the 1996-97 season. Cassel said he knew the head coach at the time, Bob Turngren, was on his way out. By the end of the year, Cassel was running most of practice. He would take over as head coach in 1997 and admits his teams at the start of his coaching career weren’t all that talented. But they got better, and Cassel was at the helm for 391 Illini hockey victories, a national championship in 2005 and the perfect season in 2008.

“They’re both unique,” Cassel said. “The first one’s always special in 2005. … We got waxed in the league tournament, in the championship game, and we rebounded really well. We just got stronger as the tournament went on, and we just ended up winning it. It was in Chicago, and we had a ton of alumni and fans there, so it was a great experience and a ton of fun.”

Recently, things haven’t been as great as they once were for the Illini hockey program. The 2010-11 Illini missed the ACHA national tournament, the first time in Cassel’s career his team failed to qualify.

“There’s no excuses,” Cassel said. “We’d qualified for the national tournament every year, and we’d always had strong showings. I would say that was probably the most disappointing thing.”

There seemed to be some sort of disconnect between the players, at least on this year’s team, and Cassel, which assistant head coach Dave Charney seemed to notice.

“Well,” Charney said, pausing. “The team responds to Chad in a multitude of ways. Obviously someone of his stature and background with hockey, there’s not a whole lot of give and take.

“Do they say anything to him? No, but obviously they have certain feelings and emotions outside of that. … As the head coach, you have to rule with a certain amount of iron fist — otherwise you’re not going to have the respect that you need. So, I think the guys understand that what he’s got to say and what he’s doing is good overall, and they respond to that. I think there are times that they disagree with some of his choices.”

The Illini finished under .500 this year, with a record of 16-17. Cassel had made up his mind to retire before the season, so the team’s recent performance didn’t play a factor.

“I let the team know right after we picked the team,” Cassel said. “It’s just time. I’m going to still stay involved a little bit with the team, but I’ll have nothing to do with coaching or who’s coaching. … It’s a sport that’s provided so much for me personally, and I wanted to give back everything I can.”