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Rick Dudley joined the Blackhawks organization as a Hockey Operations Consultant on December 15, 2004. Prior to the start of the 2005-06 season he was named Director of Player Personnel for the Blackawks. He was appointed Assistant General Manager on July 24, 2006. His career in hockey has been successful at all levels -- as a player, coach and executive.
Dudley, 57, joined the Blackhawks after serving as the General Manager of the Florida Panthers for two seasons (2002-03, 2003-04). Prior to joining the Panthers, Dudley spent two and a half seasons as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, completely revamping the Lightning's team and system, adding much needed depth with an emphasis on skill, speed and character. Rick played a vital role in building the nucleus of the 2004 Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning by acquiring such players as Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin St. Louis, Dave Anderchuk, Fredrik Modin and Tim Taylor.
Before joining the Lightning, Rick served as General Manager of the Ottawa Senators for the 1998-99 season. Under his guidance, the Senators finished with 103 points, an increase of 20 points from the previous season, and third best overall record that season. Rick spent four highly successful seasons with the Detroit Vipers of the International Hockey League before joining the Senators. With Dudley at the helm, Detroit posted an astonishing 200-92-35 record and never finished lower than fifth overall in the IHL standings while capturing the 1997 Turner Cup Championship.
As a General Manager, Dudley has been to the finals eight times in three different leagues (IHL, AHL and the ECHL) and has won four championships. A lifetime hockey man, Dudley was a Head Coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 1989-92. In two-and-a-half seasons behind the bench with the Sabres, he compiled an 85-72-31 mark, including a 45-27-8 record in 1989-90, That 98-point season was good enough to place the Sabers third overall in the NHL, and Dudley finished third in the voting for the Jack Adams Trophy for the NHL's Coach of the Year.
Dudley has served as the Head Coach of the IHL's Phoenix Roadrunners in 1993-94, the IHL's San Diego Gulls (1992-93), the AHL's New Haven Nighthawks (1988-89), the IHL's Flint Spirits (1986-88) and the ECHL's Carolina Thunderbirds (1981-86). Dudley amassed a 576-196-51 lifetime record as a Head Coach. The Toronto native played six seasons with the Sabres from 1972-73 to 1974-75 and 1978-79 to 1980-81, recording 70 goals and 94 assists in 279 games. Dudley posted back-to-back 40-goal seasons with Cincinnati of the World Hockey Association in 1975-76 and 1976-77, and played briefly for the NHL's Winnipeg Jets and Fredericton of the AHL before retiring as a player during the 1981-82 season.
Upon retiring as a player, Dudley became Owner, General Manager and Coach of the ECHL's Carolina franchise and served as the league's President from 1983-86. Prior to retirement, he had served as Part Owner and Vice President of the Ontario Hockey League's Belleville Bulls.
Rick and his wife, Ja-Hee, reside in Florida. | 