Paul Dixon (ice hockey)

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Position Defence/Head Coach
Shoots Right
Nickname(s) Digger
Height
Weight		 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb)
EPIHL Team
F. teams		 Guildford Flames
Durham Wasps
Humberside Seahawks
Sheffield Steelers
Newcastle Vipers
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Born August 4, 1973 (1973-08-04) (age 34),
Sunderland, UK
Pro career 1989 – present

Paul Dixon (Born August 4, 1973) is an ice hockey defenceman, player-coach; from Sunderland, England. He is currently the Player/Head Coach of the Guildford Flames.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

After working his way through the Durham Wasps youth system, he made his first appearance for the senior side in the 1989/90 season. After the 1990/91 season, Dixon moved to the Hull based Humberside Seahawks where he helped them gain promotion to the Heineken League Premier Division Dixon then played a season with the Sheffield Steelers where he and the team achieved the same feat. He moved back home to play for the Durham Wasps for 3 years until they were sold and moved to Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1996, where he spent another 3 years playing for the Newcastle based team, who are now known as Newcastle Vipers.

In the summer of 1999 Dixon made the move South to Surrey based outfit the Guildford Flames where he remains as Player/Head Coach. In 2001 he was awarded the Alan Weeks Trophy for the Best British Defenseman. During his time with the Flames, Dixon was selected to the British National League first all-star team on three occasions (2001, 2004 & 2005) and the second team once (2003), as well as the English Premier Ice Hockey League first all-star team in 2006 & 2007.[1] and second all-star team in 2008. Since 1999, he has helped the Surrey team to an ntl: Christmas Cup championship as well as a BNL league title, two BNL play-off championships, 2 EPIHL League titles and the EPIHL Cup. He currently sits in 8th for All-time Flames points. He is the highest scoring defenceman.

[edit] Coaching career

For the 2005/2006 season, Head Coach Stan Marple announced that Dixon would be undertaking Assistant Coach duties while still playing for the Guildford Flames. During the 2006/2007 Season, Marple announced it would be his last and that Dixon would take over as Player/Head Coach after the season[2]. His first new signing was star forward Lukas Smital from local rivals the Bracknell Bees[3].In his first season as Flames coach Dixon led his team to another EPIHL Championship with a 30-5-5 record, earning him EPIHL coach of the year.

[edit] International play

Dixon was first selected to play for Team GB in the 1995 IIHF World Championship Division I (Formerly Pool B). Between 1995 and 2004, Dixon made 54 Appearances scoring 4 goals and adding 15 assists. It was widely thought that Dixon had retired from International Ice Hockey, which was disproved in January 2008 with Dixon’s inclusion into the GB squad for the Euro tournament in France, although he had to pull out through injury.

[edit] Honours and awards

  • Best defenceman at the European Junior Championships Pool C 1990–91
  • Player's Player 1999–00
  • Best British Defenceman 2000–01
  • Named to the BNL All Star First Team 2000–01, 2003–04 and 2004–05
  • Named to the BNL All Star Second Team 2002–03
  • Named to the EPIHL All Star Team First 2005–06 and 2006–07
  • Named to the EPIHL All Star Team Second 2007–08
  • Named EPIHL Coach of the Year 2007–08

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "British League All-star Teams". No Date. Retrieved on May 14th 2007.
  2. ^ "Marple steps back from Flames". Sept. 8th 2006. Retrieved on May 13th 2007.
  3. ^ "Smital Signs with Flames". May 11th 2007. Retrieved May 13th 2007.