Gary Dineen
Born (1943-12-24)December 24, 1943
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died April 1, 2006(2006-04-01) (aged 62)
Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shot Left
Played for Minnesota North Stars
Playing career 19631971

Daniel Gary Patrick Dineen (December 24, 1943 – April 1, 2006) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Dineen played five seasons with the Canadian national amateur team, including at the 1964 and 1968 Winter Olympics 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 of the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1968–69 season. He later became a coach in the American Hockey League and junior ice hockey.

Hockey career

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
Bronze medal – third place 1968 Grenoble Ice hockey

Dineen, a native of Montreal, played high school hockey at Loyola High school. He played junior ice hockey in the Toronto area from 1960 to 1964. He was a member of the 1961 Memorial Cup-winning Toronto St. Michael's Majors team and the 1964 Memorial Cup-winning Toronto 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. 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 Minnesota North Stars 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 won the Calder Cup championship of the American Hockey League 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 National Hockey League, also played for Dineen in the mid-late 1970s.

Dineen made 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/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

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1960–61 St. Michael's Buzzers MetJBHL 28323365
1960–61 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHA 120000 60000
1960–61 Toronto St. Michael's Majors M-Cup 10000
1961–62 Toronto St. Michael's Majors OHA 3326356119 11711180
1961–62 Toronto St. Michael's Majors M-Cup 52462
1962–63 Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons MTJAHL 3832639533 101218300
1962–63 Toronto Neil McNeil Maroons M-Cup 61562
1963–64 Canadian National Team Intl
1963–64 Toronto Marlboros OHA 21564 9512178
1963–64 Toronto Marlboros M-Cup 101010200
1964–65 University of British Columbia WCIAA
1965–66 Canadian National Team Intl
1966–67 Canadian National Team Intl
1967–68 Ottawa Nationals OHA Sr 20720274
1968–69 Minnesota North Stars NHL 40110
1968–69 Memphis South Stars CHL 631138490
1969–70 Iowa Stars CHL 153252
1969–70 Salt Lake Golden Eagles WHL 101230
1969–70 Springfield Kings AHL 81230
1970–71 Springfield Kings AHL 5612223428 1247116
NHL totals 40110

International

Year Team Event GPGAPtsPIM
1964 Canada OLY 736910
1965 Canada WC 765114
1967 Canada WC 71456
1968 Canada OLY 71236
Senior totals 2811172826
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