Gordie Dwyer

Gordie Rick Dwyer (born January 25, 1978) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played five seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. He was the head coach of the PEI Rocket/Charlottetown Islanders of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 2011 to 2015 and is currently serving as head coach of HC Ambrì-Piotta in the National League A (NLA).

Playing career
He attended Philemon Wright High School in Hull, Quebec while playing for the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL. He has also played for the Laval Titan, Beauport Harfangs, Drummondville Voltigeurs and the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL.

He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 3rd round, 67th overall, of the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. Unable to reach a contract agreement with St. Louis, Dwyer re-entered the draft in 1998 and was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the 6th round, 152nd overall.

While a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dwyer achieved notoriety by receiving a 23-game suspension for leaving the penalty box to engage in a bench-clearing brawl, during which he verbally and physically abused officials, in a pre-season game against the Washington Capitals on September 19, 2000. The suspension stands as one of the longest in NHL history.

In 2004, he signed as a free agent by the Carolina Hurricanes but never played for them, he played for the Lowell Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League, where he had 9 points and 183 penalty minutes in 56 games. He remained with Lowell for the 2005–06 season and due to a shoulder injury, he played only 17 games where he had 4 points with 37 penalty minutes. He went to the Vancouver Canucks training camp in 2006 hoping to earn a roster space. He also attended the New York Islanders 2007 training camp where he was a late cut. Through 108 NHL contests he has never scored a goal, though he has obtained 5 assists and 394 penalty minutes.

He spent the latter half of the 2006–07 season with the Örebro Vipers of Swedish Division 1. In his first game for Örebro, he notched two assists, where he had 15 points and 16 penalty minutes in 11 games. In the 2007–08 season he played in Villingen-Schwenningen for the SERC Wild Wings in the German Bundesliga Germany2, where he had 7 points and 34 penalty minutes in 14 games. and previously for the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, where he had 3 points and 27 penalty minutes in 13 games. He repeated with the Örebro Watford Vipers of Swedish Division 1 for the 2008-2009 season, where he had 7 points and 79 penalty minutes in 13 games.

Coaching career
Dwyer was named head coach and associate general manager of the Summerside Western Capitals of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League for the 2009-2010 season. Dwyer led a rebuilding team to a regular-season record of 27-20-1-2 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses). The Capitals finished third in the Roger Meek Division, and won a seven-game division semifinal series against second-place Miramichi. The Capitals were then eliminated by eventual league-champion Woodstock in a five-game division final. In 2010-2011, Dwyer returned as the teams Head Coach and Associate Director of Hockey Operations leading the team to a 36-12-1-3 record, finishing in 2nd place in the 11 team league. Under Dwyer’s guidance, the team went on to capture the Kent Cup MHL Championship with a 12-3 playoff record on the strengths of a 4-0 game sweep in the first round, a 7th game come-from-behind win in the semi-finals, followed by a 4-0 sweep in the league finals. Following the season, Dwyer was named the league's coach of the year.

On May 17, 2011, Dwyer was named the head coach of the P.E.I. Rocket of the QMJHL.

In The Hockey News 2011 edition of the 100 Most Powerful people in ice hockey, Dwyer was considered one of the Top 40 under the age of 40. This recognition was attributed to his assistance in the development of Tuff 'n Lite, a unisex cut resistant protective sport socks.

On April 22, 2012, Dwyer was named an assistant coach with Team Canada that won a bronze medal at the 2012 Hockey IIHF World U18 Championship in the Czech Republic.

On April 28, 2015, Dwyer was released as the longest-serving head coach in franchise history after four years as head coach of the Charlottetown Islanders. Dwyer went 116-133-9-14 in four seasons as the team's bench boss. It included 35-28-1-4 his final post season when the Islanders defeated the Sherbrooke Phoenix to advance to the second round for the first time since 2004.

On June 15, 2015, Dwyer was named the head coach of the KHL Medveščak Zagreb of the Kontinental Hockey League KHL. In December 2016, he served as assistant coach of Team Canada at the prestigious Spengler Cup, which Canada ended up winning that year. On January 31, 2017, he parted company with the Zagreb team to take over the head coaching position at HC Ambrì-Piotta of the Swiss top-flight National League A. "This is a great opportunity for me and a big step forward in my career", Dwyer said on Medveščak's website about his move to Switzerland. In the same article, the Canadian who was a fan favorite in Zagreb summed up his KHL experience: "When you're challenged daily, by both the opposition and internally to get the best of out of your hockey team, you have to grow as a coach and as an individual. And this has been a very rewarding experience."

Transactions

 * Traded to Tampa Bay by Montreal for Mike McBain, November 26, 1999.
 * Traded to NY Rangers by Tampa Bay for Boyd Kane, October 10, 2002.
 * Claimed on waivers by Montreal from NY Rangers, February 21, 2003.
 * Signed as a free agent by Carolina, August 11, 2004.
 * Missed majority of 2005–06 season recovering from a shoulder injury.