Rick Dudley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rick Dudley was born on 31 January, 1949 in Toronto, Ontario, and played professional ice hockey in the World Hockey Association and in the National Hockey League. He also has served as a head coach in the National Hockey League.

Position: Left wing
Shot: Left
Height: 6 ft.
Weight: 190 lb.

1 Playing career
2 Coaching career
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Playing career

Rick began his playing career with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL in 1972-73 and played there for three seasons, before switching leagues in 1975-76. He played four seasons in the WHA for the Cincinnati Stingers. On 4 February, 1979 Cincinnati traded him to the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, where he remained until the 1980-81 season. During that season, Dudley was traded to the Winnipeg Jets where he played the remaining 30 games of the season, wearing the number 99. He spent the next season, 1981-82, playing seven games for the Fredericton Express in the American Hockey League.

Rick is a member of the Cincinnati Hockey Hall of Fame.

[edit] Coaching career

Rick began coaching the next year, 1982-1983, after retiring as a player. He coached in the ACHL, IHL, and AHL, before finally getting a head-coaching job in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres in the 1989-90 season. While coaching in the IHL, in 1988, he won the Commissioner's Trophy for the Coach of the Year. He coached the Sabres for three seasons before being fired in 1991-92. He then spent the next four seasons coaching three different teams in the IHL, and wouldn't make an NHL coaching appearance again until he was the mid-season replacement for the Florida Panthers in the 2003-04 season.

Buffalo Sabres Head Coaches
Imlach • Smith • Crozier • Pronovost • Inglis • Bowman • Neilson • Roberts • Schoenfeld • Ramsay • Sator • Dudley • Muckler • Nolan • Ruff