Paul Dixon

Paul Dixon (born 4 August 1973) is a former ice hockey defenceman and player-coach from Sunderland, England. He is currently the head coach for the Guildford Flames of the Elite Ice Hockey League, the top-tier of hockey in the United Kingdom.

Playing career After working his way through the Durham Wasps youth system, Dixon 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, 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. From the start of his Flames career Dixon was given the alternate captain position. After being awarded the Alan Weeks Trophy in 2001, he was made captain of the side, a position he held until taking over as head coach in 2007, thus making him the longest serving Flames captain. 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. and second all-star team in 2008 and 2009. 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 2 EPIHL Cup titles. He currently sits in 6th for All-time Flames points, and is the highest scoring defenceman.

Playing record

Year by Year Record

Includes Play-Offs & Cups

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes. All Stats from either Eurohockey.net' or Guildford Flames' websites Club Year League GP G A Pts PIM Durham Wasps 89–90 BHL392111312 Durham Wasps 90–91 BHL53491328 Humberside Seahawks 91–92 BHL5213173032 Sheffield Steelers 92–93 BNL4011223328 Durham Wasps 93–94 BNL5814294340 Durham Wasps 94–95 BNL519263528 Durham Wasps 95–96 BNL478253328 Newcastle Cobras 96–97 ISL500888 Newcastle Cobras 97–98 ISL545101520 Newcastle Riverkings 98–99 ISL524266 Guildford Flames 99-00 BNL507323930 Guildford Flames 00-01 BNL625273240 Guildford Flames 01-02 BNL372121422 Guildford Flames 02-03 BNL598233136 Guildford Flames 03-04 BNL6410405016 Guildford Flames 04-05 BNL686374322 Guildford Flames 05-06 EPL5011273824 Guildford Flames 06-07 EPL5912465866 Guildford Flames 07-08 EPL549384748 Guildford Flames 08-09 EPL577303732 Guildford Flames 09-10 EPL596323844 Career Totals GP G A Pts. PiMs 1115 153 503 656 608 BHL 144 19 37 56 72 BNL 536 80 273 353 290 ISL 156 9 20 29 32 EPL 289 45 173 218 214

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. His first new signing was star forward Lukas Smital from local rivals the Bracknell Bees. In his first season as Flames coach Dixon led his team to another EPIHL Championship with a 30–5–5 league regular season record, earning him EPIHL coach of the year. 2008/09 was less successful with a 3rd-place finish in the league and no silverware with a regular season record of 34–17–3.

Coaching career statistics Including League, Cups and Playoffs Year Team League Games W L OT/T % Finish Playoffs Cup 2007–08 Guildford Flames EPIHL 61 43 13 5 0.745 1st Lost semi-final Group Stage 2008–09 Guildford Flames EPIHL 61 38 18 5 0.664 3rd Lost semi-final Runners Up 2009–10 Guildford Flames EPIHL 62 40 19 3 0.669 4th Runners Up Winners

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.

International playing record

Year-by-year record

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes. All stats from either Eurohockey.net Competition Year GP G A Pts PIM World Championships Group B 95 51122 World Championships Group B 96 711214 World Championships Group B 97 70110 World Championships Group B 98 40222 World Championships Qualification 99 30000 World Championships Group B 99 70110 World Championships Group B 00 70220 World Championships Division 1 01 51230 World Championships Division 1 02 50332 World Championships Division 1 04 41234 Totals GP G A Pts PIM GB Totals 54 4 15 19 24

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