Ice hockey forward David “Dave” Tippett spent 1979 through 1981 as a junior in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League with the Prince Albert Raiders, winning the league’s championship both years. He continued his success at the University of North Dakota from 1981 through 1983, winning a championship with the school’s hockey team as captain in 1982. He joined the Canadian men’s national ice hockey team on their journey to the 1984 Winter Olympics, where he played in seven games and scored one goal, but came home without a medal. Upon his return he was signed by the National Hockey League’s Hartford Whalers and suited up for their final seventeen matches of the 1983-1984 season. He stayed with the team until 1990, when he joined the NHL’s Washington Capitals for two years. He also tried his hand at the Winter Olympics once more in 1992, again scoring one goal in seven games, but this time helping take home Canada’s first medal (silver) from the tournament since 1968. He remained an active player in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins (1992-1993) and the Philadelphia Flyers (1993-1994), as well as the International Hockey League with the Houston Aeros (1994-1995) until his retirement.
In his only season with the Aeros, Tippett also acted as a player/coach. When he hung up his skates in 1995, he was given the position of assistant coach, and was promoted to head coach in 1996. In 1999, during his final season as head coach of the team, the Aeros won the league’s championship Turner Cup, and Tippett was named coach of the year. He was then recruited as an assistant coach for the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and stayed with them until 2002, at which point he joined the league’s Dallas Stars as head coach in a tenure that lasted until June 2009. On September 24th of that year he replaced Wayne Gretzky as head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.
Canada