Alex "Damps" Dampier (born ) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
retired professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
player and
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
. He is a member of the
British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame
The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...
.
Playing career
Born in
Nipigon, Ontario
Nipigon () is a township in Thunder Bay District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located along the west side of the Nipigon River and south of the small Lake Helen running between Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior. Lake Nipigon is located approximate ...
, Dampier combined playing ice hockey with a
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
course in
Physical Education
Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...
at Lakehead University. He played for the
Cape Cod Cubs
The Cape Cod Islanders were a Tier III junior ice hockey team from Massachusetts. They were most recently a member of the North American 3 Hockey League and played at the Falmouth Ice Arena in Falmouth, Massachusetts. In 2019, they announced the ...
in the
Eastern Hockey League
The Eastern Hockey League was a minor professional United States ice hockey league.
Eastern Amateur Hockey League (1933–1953)
The league was founded in 1933 as the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). The league was founded by Tommy Lockhart, ...
during the 1972–73 season before joining the Muskegon Mohawks in the
International Hockey League the season after.
Dampier moved to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 1978 and joined the
Murrayfield Racers
The Murrayfield Racers were an ice hockey team based in Edinburgh, Scotland who were founded in 1952 as the Murrayfield Royals before changing their name to the Murrayfield Racers in 1966.
The team won the British Championship four times in ...
as a
defender. He became the Racers'
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
the following season and then only played intermittently for them from the beginning of the 1983–84 season until he retired from playing in 1985.
Coaching career
Club
Whilst still playing (and coaching) the Racers, the team won the
Northern League in the 1978–79, 1979–80 and 1980–81 seasons; the
Northern Autumn Cup in 1979 and 1980; and the
Icy Smith Cup in 1979, 1980 and 1981. After he retired from playing he coached the Racers to the playoff finals in 1984 and 1985.
In the summer of 1985 Dampier joined the
Nottingham Panthers
The Nottingham Panthers are a British professional ice hockey club based in Nottingham, England. They are members of the Elite Ice Hockey League. Their main team sponsor is the Nottingham Building Society.
The Nottingham Panthers have won four ...
as coach. In his second season with the Panthers they won the Norwich Union Trophy in 1986 and the Autumn Cup in 1991. They also won the playoffs in 1989, made the
playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
semifinals in 1990 and were losing finalists in the playoffs in 1992. Whilst with the Panthers, Dampier was twice named the
British Ice Hockey Writers Association's Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award.
Some of the ...
in 1987 and 1989.
[
Dampier moved to the Panthers' arch-rivals, the ]Sheffield Steelers
The Sheffield Steelers are a professional ice hockey team located in Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 (see 1991 in sport) and play their home games at the Utilita Arena. They are currently a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League. ...
, in January 1993. Whilst with the Steelers, he guided them to promotion from the British Hockey League Division 1 and the following season, in the Premier Division, he took them to the playoff weekend at Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
. He became the club's General Manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
and hired Clyde Tuyl as the head coach. Together, Dampier and Tuyl guided the Steelers to the club's first league championship. The following season, 1995–96, the team again won the league championship (the final one before the formation of the Ice Hockey Superleague
The British Ice Hockey Superleague (BISL, also known as the Sekonda Ice Hockey Superleague from 1998 to 1999 for sponsorship reasons) was a professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom between 1996 and 2003. Devised in 1995, it replaced ...
) as well as the playoffs and the Benson & Hedges Cup
The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals.
It was the third major one-day competition established in Englan ...
for the club's first grand slam. The Steelers again won the playoffs in 1996–97.
At the end of the 1997–98 season, Dampier left the Steelers for the Newcastle Riverkings. He then rejoined the Panthers as Director of Hockey midway through the 1999–00 season and guided them to the finals of the Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
. The following season, 2001–02, he shared the coaching duties with Paul Adey
Paul Adey (born August 28, 1963) is a former ice hockey player and coach. Adey enjoyed a notable playing career in British ice hockey, playing 11 seasons for the Nottingham Panthers between 1988 and 1999 and 29 games for the Sheffield Steelers du ...
before he returned to the North East to join the Newcastle Vipers
From 2002–2011 the Newcastle Vipers were an ice hockey club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The club was a member of the Elite Ice Hockey League, and the British National League.
History
Predecessors
Previously, the city was repre ...
for their inaugural season, 2002–03, in the British National League, again teaming up with Clyde Tuyl.
International
Dampier's first involvement on the international scene came in 1981 when he was the coach of the Great Britain team at the World Championships Pool C tournament in Peking
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It was an inauspicious start for his international coaching career as the GB team lost all their matches and did not take part in world competition again until 1990. However, Dampier was put in charge of the under-21 GB team between 1982 and 1988 when they won the bronze medal in Pool C twice.
In 1990 Dampier was again made coach to the senior team for the World Championships Pool D tournament in Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. The team won all four of the games and gained promotion to Pool C. Despite high expectations in 1991, the team only finished fifth in the nine team tournament held in Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark
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, song_type = National and royal anthem
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
. However, the following year, 1992, in Hull, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
the team gained promotion to World Championships Pool B and, in 1993, promotion into Pool A
Pool may refer to:
Water pool
* Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming
* Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings
* Tide pool, a rocky pool ...
. However, in 1994 in Bolzano
Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the team lost all their matches and were relegated back to Pool B.
Awards and honours
* BIHWA Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award.
Some of the ...
for 1986–87 and 1988–89.
*Inducted to the British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame
The British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1948 and is the third oldest ice hockey Hall of Fame in the world, behind the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame (also founded in 1948) and the International Hockey Hall of Fame (founded in 19 ...
in 1995.
Footnotes
External links
*
British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dampier, Alex
1951 births
British Ice Hockey Hall of Fame inductees
Canadian ice hockey left wingers
Canadian ice hockey coaches
Cape Cod Cubs (EHL) players
Ice hockey people from Ontario
Living people
Murrayfield Racers players
Nottingham Panthers coaches
Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Scotland
Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England