Daniel Gary Patrick Dineen (December 24, 1943 – April 1, 2006) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player and coach. Dineen played five seasons with the Canadian national amateur team, including at the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

where he won a bronze medal at the latter, before joining the professional leagues in 1968. He played the bulk of his professional career in the minor leagues, and four games for the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) during the 1968–69 season. He later became a coach in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

and junior ice hockey.

Hockey career

Dineen, a native of Montreal, played high school hockey at Loyola High school. He played junior ice hockey in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

area from 1960 to 1964. He was a member of the

1961 Memorial Cup The 1961 Memorial Cup final was the 43rd junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Toronto St. Michael's Majors of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Can ...

-winning Toronto St. Michael's Majors team and the

1964 Memorial Cup The 1964 Memorial Cup final was the 46th junior ice hockey championship of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). The George Richardson Memorial Trophy champions Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association in Eastern Canada compete ...

-winning

Toronto Marlboros The Toronto Marlborough Athletic Club, commonly known as the Toronto Marlboros, was founded in 1903. It operated junior ice hockey and senior ice hockey teams in the Ontario Hockey Association and later the Ontario Hockey League. The Marlboros ...

team. That year, he joined the new Canadian national ice hockey team. In all, he played in five seasons with the national team, along with one season with the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. Dineen played for Canada in the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Games, and the 1965–1967 World Championships. The team won the bronze medal in the 1966 and 1967 World Championships and a bronze in the 1968 Olympics. Dineen became a professional in 1968, signing with the

organization. In the 1968–69 season, Dineen made his only appearance in the NHL, with four games. He played the bulk of the season with their Memphis farm team. He played two more seasons of professional hockey before retiring after the

Springfield Kings The Springfield Indians were a minor professional ice hockey franchise, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The Indians were founding members of the American Hockey League. They were in existen ...

won the Calder Cup championship of the

in 1970-71. The following season he would move into coaching with the Kings, and would go on to coach and GM the Kings and Springfield Indians for several years. In 1972 he helped form the Springfield Olympics of the New England Junior Hockey League where he coached the 'Pics to several Wallace Cups as league champions, and remained part of the franchise until his death. He helped develop several players who would go on to division 1 and 2 college hockey programs. He also had a few of his former players go on to successful careers in the NHL, including Bill Guerin. Dean Lombardi, current President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings of the

, also played for Dineen in the mid-late 1970s. Dineen made West Springfield, Massachusetts, West Springfield, Massachusetts his home with his wife and daughter for well over 30 years. His keen hockey intellect and coaching abilities made him a magnet for upper echelon junior players from New England, primarily Western Massachusetts/Connecticut, Northern Connecticut, who aspired to play college and professional hockey. He was inducted to the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame, in addition to being honored with the USA Hockey Presidents Award and the American Hockey Coaches Association's "Snooks Kelley Award".

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dineen, Gary 1943 births 2006 deaths Canadian ice hockey centres Ice hockey people from Quebec Ice hockey players at the 1964 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1968 Winter Olympics Iowa Stars players Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Memphis South Stars players Minnesota North Stars players Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Olympic medalists in ice hockey Ontario Hockey Association Senior A League (1890–1979) players St. Michael's Buzzers players Sportspeople from Montreal Springfield Kings players Toronto St. Michael's Majors players UBC Thunderbirds players