Former Americans player Dwyer named Assistant Coach of Wild

During his junior hockey playing days in Great Falls, Patrick Dwyer recorded 104 points in 78 career games.

Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has named Great Falls Americans alum and forward Patrick Dwyer the team's new Assistant Coach. Dwyer joins the staff of Head Coach John Hynes.

Dwyer, 40, began his coaching career in 2019-20 as an Assistant Coach with the Charlotte Checkers in the American Hockey League (AHL). He served as an Assistant Coach for the Chicago Wolves (AHL) from 2020-23 and was a member of the Calder Cup-winning team in 2021-22. He was named an Assistant Coach for the Iowa Wild on July 5, as part of Brett McLean’s staff.

As a player, Dwyer totaled 93 points (42-51=93) in 416 NHL games as a forward with the Carolina Hurricanes from 2008-15. The Great Falls, Mont. native also added 196 points (94-102=196) across 345 AHL games with the Chicago Wolves (2005-06), Albany River Rats (2006-10) and Charlotte Checkers (2016-17).

Dwyer also spent three seasons of hockey overseas; he played for MODO Hockey in the SHL (2015-16), Sønderjyske in Denmark (2017-18), and the Belfast Giants in the EIHL (2018-19).

A native of Great Falls, MT, Dwyer played junior hockey for the Americans in the AWHL during the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons. During his playing days in Great Falls, Dwyer recorded 104 points in 78 career games. He helped the Americans win the AWHL Championship in his final season in 2000-01, where he recorded 22 points in 12 playoff games. He then went onto play NCAA Division I hockey for Western Michigan University (2001-05), where he served as a captain during his senior season for the Broncos.