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A Flame From the Past: Nigel Dawes
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Apr 12, 2026, 15:30 EDTUpdated: Apr 12, 2026, 12:56 EDT
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Do you remember Nigel Dawes?
Every once in a while, we take a look at a player who once played for the Calgary Flames in a series called “A Flame From the Past.” This player has to have played a significant number of games for the Flames. I’ll put every Flames’ season into a Wheel of Names, and this time, it landed on the 2009-10 season. In this article, we’ll look at Nigel Dawes.
Born in Winnipeg, Dawes began his junior career for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winnipeg Saints in 2000-01, scoring a goal and three points in four games. The following season, Dawes joined the Western Hockey League’s Kootenay Ice (who later moved to Winnipeg), where he scored 15 goals and 34 points in 54 games.
His scoring success continued into the post-season, adding nine goals and 15 points, helping the Ice win the Ed Chynoweth Cup, then the Memorial Cup. In 2002-03, Dawes’ draft year, he scored 47 goals and 92 points in 72 games, with four goals and 12 points in 11 playoff games. That led to the New York Rangers drafting the left winger 149th overall in the 2003 draft.
Dawes returned to the Ice for the 2003-04 season, scoring 47 goals and 70 points in 56 games, but the Ice played just four post-season games, where he had a goal and three points. Moreover, Dawes also made his professional debut in 2003-04, appearing in four games with the Rangers’ American Hockey League team.
Thanks to the 2004-05 lockout, Dawes returned to the Ice for his aged-20 season, where he scored 50 goals and 76 points in 63 games, and another five goals and 15 points in 12 post-season games.
The following season was when he became a regular in the AHL, potting 35 goals and 67 points in 77 AHL games, with six goals and 12 points in 13 playoff games. Most of his 2006-07 season was spent with the Hartford Wolf Pack as well, scoring 27 goals and 60 points in 65 games, but played in eight National Hockey League games where he scored once. The 2007 post-season saw Dawes score five goals and 11 points in seven games.
Dawes became an NHL regular in 2007-08 after scoring 14 goals and 34 points in 20 AHL games. In the NHL, he scored 14 goals and 29 points in 61 games, with two goals and four points in 10 playoff games. The following season, Dawes scored 10 goals and 19 points in 52 games, but was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for Derek Morris.
He ended the 2008-09 season with two assists in 12 games. That off-season, the Flames claimed Dawes on waivers, where he scored a career-high 14 goals and 32 points in 66 games during the 2009-10 season. Despite good production, that was essentially the end of his NHL career.
In 2010-11, he played 13 NHL games split between the Atlanta Thrashers and Montréal Canadiens. He had an assist, but most of his season was spent in the AHL. That was the end of his career in North America, as Dawes joined Astana Barys of the Kontinental Hockey League for the 2011-12 season.
Dawes spent seven seasons with the organization, scoring 196 goals and 342 points in 347 games. The winger joined Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 season, scoring 48 goals and 109 points in 119 games. Then in 2020-21, Dawes played for Kazan Ak-Bars, adding 23 goals and 43 points in 47 games, giving him 267 goals and 505 points in 543 career KHL games.
In his final two seasons, 2021-22 and 2022-23, Dawes played for the Mannheim Eagles of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, scoring 32 goals and 66 points in 90 games, retiring in 2023. Internationally, Dawes represented Canada at the 2004 and 2005 World Junior Championships. Dawes represented Kazakhstan during the 2016 IIHF World Championship, where he scored four goals and eight points in seven games.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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