Kevin Gaudet (born October 22, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, now working as a coach. He is currently serving as head coach of the

Hannover Scorpions The Hannover Scorpions are a professional ice hockey team, which plays in the Oberliga, Germany's third tier ice hockey league. They previously played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga from 1996 to 2013. History Founded in 1975 as ESC Wedemark, the ...

Playing career

Gaudet attended the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

and helped "Les Aigles Bleus" win back-to-back Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union Men's Ice Hockey championships in 1981 and 1982. The championship-winning teams were inducted into the

New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame The New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame () is a provincial sports hall of fame and museum in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The sports hall of fame honours athletes, teams, and sport builders that are from the Canadian province of New Brunswick. New nom ...

in 2004. He spent some time with the

Moncton Hawks The Moncton Hawks were a professional ice hockey team based in Moncton, New Brunswick. They played in the American Hockey League between 1987 and 1994, operating as a minor league affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets. Home games were played at the Mon ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

and was trying out with NHL sides

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

and

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 ...

, before making the move to France, where he played for HC Val Vanoise between 1985 and 1991. In 1991, Gaudet signed with ESC Wedemark of Germany, serving as player/coach. He led the team to the Oberliga championship and to promotion to the 1. Liga in 1994. Gaudet brought an end to his playing career in 1995 and focussed on coaching at ESC Wedemark after retiring as a player.

Coaching career

Under Gaudet's tutelage, ESC Wedemark captured the 1.Liga title in his first season as full-time head coach and earned a spot in the German top flight

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

for the following campaign. His first stint with the organization that changed its name to

in 1997, ended in January 2000. However, Gaudet returned to the Hannover bench at the beginning of the 2000-01 campaign, but was relieved of his duties midway through the season in January 2001. In December 2001, he was named head coach of EHC Straubing of Germany's second division and remained at the job until November 2004. He left Straubing to accept an offer to come back to Hannover for a third stint. Gaudet led the Scorpions to the DEL playoff semifinals in 2005-06 and parted company with the club at the end of the season. From 2007 to 2011, Gaudet served as head coach of Austrian top-tier club

Vienna Capitals The Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey team that participate in the ICE Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Steffl Arena. In the 2004–05 season, the Capitals claimed ...

. In November 2011, he assumed head coaching duties with the Bietigheim Steelers who lifted silverware in Gaudet’s first season, capturing the 2011-12 DEB cup competition. In 2012-13, the Bietigheim team won the double of DEB-Pokal and 2. Bundesliga championship and took home the DEL2 title in 2015. Gaudet received 2. Bundesliga Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and DEL2 Coach of the Year distinction in 2015. In the 2017-18 season, he guided Bietigheim to a third championship title. In May 2018, Gaudet took over the head coaching job at German DEL side

Nürnberg Ice Tigers The Nürnberg Ice Tigers are a professional ice hockey club located in Nuremberg, Germany. They play in the country's premier league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. History The roots of the team can be traced back to SG Nürnberg, an ice hockey clu ...

, but in September 2018 parted company with the team only four games into the season due to “different views on tactical and leaderships aspects". In May 2019, he was named head coach of German DEL2 side

EC Bad Tölz EC or ec may refer to: Arts and entertainment * EC Comics, an American publisher of comic books * ''Electric Circus'', a Canadian television program * Eric Clapton Stratocaster, signature model guitars by Fender Businesses and organisations Gove ...

. He and his team suffered relegation from the DEL 2 in 2022. Gaudet and EC Bad Tölz parted ways on April 14, 2022. On April 26, 2022, Gaudet returned to the Hannover Scorpions for another stint as head coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaudet, Kevin Canadian ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Moncton 1963 births Living people Canadian expatriate ice hockey people Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Germany Naturalized citizens of Germany