Richard Dorian Matvichuk (born February 5, 1973) is a Canadian former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He played 14 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

with 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 ...

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

, and the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

of the

Playing career

Although he was born in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Matvichuk was raised in the nearby city of

Fort Saskatchewan Fort Saskatchewan is a city along the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Edmonton, the provincial capital. It is part of the Edmonton Capital Region#Edmonton CMA, Edmonton census metropolitan area and one of 24 muni ...

. Matvichuk was drafted eighth overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota North Stars, and made the transition, along with several other players, including

Mike Modano Michael Thomas Modano Jr. (; born June 7, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played as a Centre (ice hockey), center and spent most of his career with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars franchise. He spent the fina ...

and

Derian Hatcher Derian John Hatcher (born June 4, 1972) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers. H ...

, to the franchise's move to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, and played 733 regular season games as a Dallas Star. Matvichuk played 12 years for the Stars, scoring 38 goals and 129 assists, although with a rather low average of penalty minutes compared with his physical style of play. Matvichuk was also a part of the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

winning team which brought Dallas their first championship trophy. He became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in the 2004 NHL offseason. He was later signed by the New Jersey Devils, making a similar Stars-to-Devils transition as

Jamie Langenbrunner Jamie Craig Langenbrunner (; born July 24, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He is a member of the 1998–99 Dallas Stars season, 1998–99 Dallas Stars and 2002–03 New Jersey Devils season, 2002–03 New Jersey Devil ...

and

Joe Nieuwendyk Joseph Nieuwendyk ( ; born September 10, 1966) is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He was a second round selection of the Calgary Flames, 27th overall, at the 1985 NHL Entry Draft and played 20 seasons for the Flames, Dall ...

. He missed all but the last game of the 2006–07 season after having back surgery. He was released by the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern C ...

during the 2008 preseason, when he was there on a tryout basis.

Coaching

On May 4, 2012, Matvichuk was announced as the assistant general manager and defensive coach of

Central Hockey League The Central Hockey League (CHL) was a North American mid-level minor professional ice hockey league which operated from 1992 until 2014. It was founded by Ray Miron and Bill Levins and later sold to Global Entertainment Corporation, which opera ...

Allen Americans The Allen Americans are a professional ice hockey team headquartered at the Allen Event Center, Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, which currently plays in the ECHL. The team was founded in 2009–10 CHL season, 2009 in the Centr ...

. On June 12, 2014, he was named the head coach of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

Missouri Mavericks Missouri (''see pronunciation'') is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it borders Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas, a ...

. On June 2, 2016, Matvichuk was named head coach of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

Prince George Cougars The Prince George Cougars are a Canada, Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Prince George, British Columbia. Founded in 1971 as the Victoria Cougars (WHL), Victoria Cougars, the team was relocated to Prince George in 1994, where it b ...

. He was fired as head coach of the Cougars on February 8, 2019, after an overall 85–89–22 record with the team that was on an eleven-game losing streak during the 2018–19 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* WHL East First All-Star Team – 1992 *

champion –

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matvichuk, Richard 1973 births Living people Canadian ice hockey coaches Canadian ice hockey defencemen Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Fort Saskatchewan Traders players Ice hockey people from Edmonton Kalamazoo Wings (1974–2000) players Lowell Devils players Minnesota North Stars draft picks Minnesota North Stars players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Missouri Mavericks coaches NHL first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils players People from Fort Saskatchewan Prince George Cougars coaches Saskatoon Blades players Stanley Cup champions