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Nigel Dawes

Nigel Dawes
Dawes with the Adler Mannheim in 2022
Born (1985-02-09) February 9, 1985 (age 39)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers
Phoenix Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Atlanta Thrashers
Montreal Canadiens
Barys Astana
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
Ak Bars Kazan
Adler Mannheim
National team  Kazakhstan
NHL draft 149th overall, 2003
New York Rangers
Playing career 2004–2023

Nigel Alexander Dawes (born February 9, 1985) is a Canadian-Kazakhstani former professional ice-hockey winger. He played 212 games in 5 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, and Montreal Canadiens.

After leaving the NHL, Dawes became known as a Sniper (goalscorer) in Europe particularly in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Barys Astana, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and Ak Bars Kazan scoring 267 goals and 505 points in 543 games in the KHL - making him 5th all-time in KHL point scoring and 2nd in goals.

Dawes played for the Kootenay Ice in the Western Hockey League, with Kootenay he was part of the team that won the 2002 Memorial Cup. He was also part of Team Canada's IIHF World Junior Championship teams of 2004 and 2005, winning Gold at the latter. He spent his senior hockey career on the Kazakhstani national team, after earning naturalization status in the country.

Playing career

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Dawes played junior ice hockey for the Kootenay Ice in the Western Hockey League. In his first year, the Ice won the 2002 Memorial Cup after winning the President's Cup as champions of the WHL.[1] Dawes improved his play in his next two seasons in the WHL, and, for the 2003–04 season, he was named a first team All-Star in the Western Conference, the winner of the Brad Hornung Trophy (most sportsmanlike),[2] and the Ice's most valuable player.

Dawes with the Rangers

Dawes was drafted in the fifth round, 149th overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers, after two seasons in the WHL. After three seasons of junior hockey and four games in the American Hockey League for the Hartford Wolf Pack at the end of the 2003–04 season, the Rangers signed Dawes to his first professional contract on September 1, 2004, when he was 19 years old.[2] Dawes went on to play another season with the Ice, recognized for his talent as a finalist for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy (WHL player of the year), before breaking into the professional game in the AHL. Dawes finished his Kootenay Ice career as the franchise leader in goals, with 159 scored in 245 games.

Dawes scored his first NHL goal against Andrew Raycroft on October 21, 2006, in the Rangers 5–4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.[3] After playing in seven games then being a healthy scratch for seven of the next eight, Dawes was sent down to play with the Wolf Pack for the rest of the 2006–07 season.[4] He returned to play in the Rangers' final game of the playoffs on May 6, 2007. Game six against the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference Semifinals was Dawes's first NHL playoff game. While Dawes was trying to block a shot, the first Sabres goal deflected off of his body to go into the net past goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers lost the game 5–4 to lose the series 4–2.[5]

Dawes recorded his first NHL assist in the 2007–08 season. Dawes had become a good shootout option for the Rangers, scoring four times on seven attempts at that point. During regular play, played as high as the second line at points during the 2007–08 season.[6]

On July 16, 2008, Dawes re-signed with the Rangers to a one-year, $587,500 contract.[7] On March 4, 2009, Dawes was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes along with Dmitri Kalinin and Petr Průcha for Derek Morris.[8] On July 16, 2009, Dawes was claimed off waivers by the Calgary Flames.[9]

On September 8, 2010, Dawes signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Atlanta Thrashers worth $600,000 in the NHL and $105,000 in the American Hockey League (AHL). He was traded on February 24, 2011, to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Brent Sopel for Ben Maxwell and a 4th-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

On May 31, 2011, Dawes left the NHL and signed a one-year contract with Kazakhstan-based Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[10] He continued the relationship through the 2017–18 season.

On July 14, 2020, Dawes as a free agent and the fifth leading scorer in KHL history extended his tenure in Russia, signing a one-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan.[11]

On June 11, 2021, Dawes signed a two-year contract with Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[12]

At the conclusion of his contract with Adler Mannheim and hampered by injury, Dawes announced his retirement following 17 professional seasons.[13]

International play

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Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2004 Finland
Gold medal – first place 2005 USA

Dawes played for Canada in the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, winning silver and gold medals, respectively. In 2004, Dawes led all players with six goals to go along with five assists in six games, tying for first with 11 points.[2] Two goals and one assist came in the gold medal game against the United States, after which Dawes was named as Canada's player of the game. He registered two goals and four assists in six games in 2005.

On March 24, 2016, the IIHF announced it had approved a request to allow Dawes, Brandon Bochenski, and Dustin Boyd to play for Kazakhstan at the 2016 IIHF World Championship.[14] All three players received Kazakhstani citizenship via naturalization, making them eligible.[15][16]

Personal life

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Dawes was born in Winnipeg to a Canadian mother and Jamaican father.[17]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 Winnipeg Warriors AAA MMHL 36 55 41 96 74 13 14 11 25 10
2000–01 Winnipeg Saints MJHL 4 1 2 3 0 — — — — —
2001–02 Kootenay Ice WHL 54 15 19 34 14 22 9 6 15 8
2002–03 Kootenay Ice WHL 72 47 45 92 54 11 4 8 12 6
2003–04 Kootenay Ice WHL 56 47 23 70 31 4 1 2 3 10
2003–04 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2004–05 Kootenay Ice WHL 63 50 26 76 30 12 5 10 15 5
2005–06 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 77 35 32 67 21 13 6 6 12 9
2006–07 New York Rangers NHL 8 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
2006–07 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 65 27 33 60 29 7 5 6 11 9
2007–08 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 20 14 20 34 2 — — — — —
2007–08 New York Rangers NHL 61 14 15 29 10 10 2 2 4 0
2008–09 New York Rangers NHL 52 10 9 19 15 — — — — —
2008–09 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 12 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2009–10 Calgary Flames NHL 66 14 18 32 18 — — — — —
2010–11 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 9 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2010–11 Chicago Wolves AHL 47 27 17 44 17 — — — — —
2010–11 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 19 14 14 28 7 20 14 8 22 8
2010–11 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Barys Astana KHL 52 16 17 33 34 7 1 2 3 2
2012–13 Barys Astana KHL 51 20 14 34 28 7 7 2 9 4
2013–14 Barys Astana KHL 54 26 23 49 18 7 2 2 4 4
2014–15 Barys Astana KHL 60 32 24 56 48 7 4 3 7 10
2015–16 Barys Astana KHL 55 31 22 53 16 — — — — —
2016–17 Barys Astana KHL 59 36 27 63 31 10 7 3 10 4
2017–18 Barys Astana KHL 46 35 21 56 26 — — — — —
2018–19 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 60 28 41 69 12 8 2 3 5 0
2019–20 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 59 20 30 50 13 5 0 1 1 2
2020–21 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 47 23 20 43 10 14 3 3 6 0
2021–22 Adler Mannheim DEL 54 19 23 42 10 6 4 2 6 8
2022–23 Adler Mannheim DEL 36 13 11 24 20 — — — — —
NHL totals 212 39 45 84 43 11 2 2 4 0
KHL totals 543 267 238 505 236 65 26 19 45 26

International

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Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2002 Canada Western U17 5th 5 2 2 4 4
2002 Canada U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 5 6 11 2
2004 Canada WJC 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 6 5 11 10
2005 Canada WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 2 4 6 6
2016 Kazakhstan OGQ NQ 2 1 1 2 0
2016 Kazakhstan WC 16th 7 4 4 8 4
2017 Kazakhstan WC D1 19th 5 5 4 9 0
2020 Kazakhstan OGQ NQ 2 0 2 2 0
Junior totals 22 15 16 32 22
Senior totals 16 10 11 21 4

Awards and honours

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Award Year
WHL
West First All-Star Team 2004, 2005
West Second All-Star Team 2003
Brad Hornung Trophy 2004
AHL
All-Star Game 2008
Second All-Star Team 2011 [18]
KHL
All-Star Game 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Most goals (35) 2018

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Kootenay down Tigres to win Memorial Cup". Canadian Press. May 27, 2002. Archived from the original on May 17, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c "Rangers sign Nigel Dawes". TSN.ca. September 1, 2004. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  3. ^ "Shanahan's Shootout Goal Carries Rangers Past Leafs". TSN. October 21, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  4. ^ Terranova, Justin (November 14, 2006). "Rangers Give Darius Call-up". New York Post. Archived from the original on January 25, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  5. ^ Hradek, E.J. (May 6, 2007). "It wasn't easy, but Sabres finish job in Game 6". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  6. ^ Zinser, Lynn (March 24, 2008). "A Rangers Rookie's Stature Grows With Each Shootout Goal". The New York Times. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  7. ^ "Rangers agree to terms with free agent Dawes". TSN.ca. July 16, 2008. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  8. ^ "Rangers trade for Antropov, Morris". ESPN. March 4, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  9. ^ "Flames Acquire Forward Nigel Dawes". NHL.com. July 16, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  10. ^ "Astana recruit Montreal duo". hockeysverige.se (in Swedish). May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  11. ^ "Nigel Dawes - Ak Bars player" (in Russian). Ak Bars Kazan. July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Adler landen nächsten Transfercoup". adler-mannheim.de (in German). June 11, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  13. ^ "17 players leave Adler" (in German). Adler Mannheim. April 14, 2023. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Davide Tuniz (March 24, 2016). "IIHF gives green light to Brandon Bochenski, Nigel Dawes and Dustin Boyd to play for Kazakhstan". eurohockey.com. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  15. ^ Nasilevich, Alexander (March 25, 2016). "Kazakhstan gets boost". IIHF Worlds 2016. International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  16. ^ Dixon, Ryan (May 18, 2016). "Nigel Dawes at peace with post-NHL life in Kazakhstan". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  17. ^ "Nigel Dawes Wiki". United Press International.
  18. ^ "2010-11 First and Second All-Stars named". American Hockey League. May 4, 2011. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
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