Brad Dexter, a former Colgate hockey player and second-team All-American, is in his seventh season as an assistant men's ice hockey coach at his alma mater. His primary responsibilities include working with the defensemen and assisting with recruiting.
In August of 2008, he was elevated to the first assistant position after former coach Andrew Dickson left for a scouting position with the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL.
In his first season back in Hamilton, Dexter helped coach Colgate's defense to allow a league-low 2.09 goals per conference game, and 2.38 goals allowed per game overall, which was good for second in the league.
Dexter returned to coaching after completing a highly-successful professional playing career. He finished the 2004-05 season as his team's second-leading scorer and served as team captain for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). He registered seven goals and 28 assists for 35 points in 49 games, and was voted to start in the ECHL All-Star Game. While he was sidelined for 23 games with an injury, Dexter filled in as an assistant coach, working primarily with the defense.
Dexter played for the Herning Blue Fox of the Danish Elite League in 2003-04, helping the squad to the regular-season championship. During the 2002-03 season, he played all 72 games with the Pensacola Ice Pilots and posted eight goals and 44 assists for 52 points as an assistant captain.
Dexter hung up his skates to serve as an assistant coach at Clarkson University during the 2001-02 campaign. That year, he helped coach the Golden Knights to a 17-15-6 overall record and a second-place finish in the ECAC with an 11-6-5 league mark.
After completing his college playing career, Dexter played five years of professional hockey, primarily for the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.
He began his pro career during the 1996-97 season with the Raleigh Icecaps. Dexter scored 40 points in 52 games before being traded to regular-season champion South Carolina, where he registered 17 assists during the last 16 games of the regular season. During the Stingrays¹ playoff run, Dexter scored 26 points, including 23 assists, in 18 games to help South Carolina capture the inaugural Kelly Cup as the ECHL tournament champion.
Dexter spent the next three seasons with South Carolina as an assistant captain, recording 186 points in 221 games, and being voted to the ECHL all-star team in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999-00 campaign, Dexter returned to Central New York for a brief stint with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL), and played three games with the Kansas City Blades of the International Hockey League (IHL). He returned to the Stingrays for the 2000-01 season, where he scored 47 points in 72 games to help the team to the Southeast Division and Southern Conference championships. Dexter registered 11 points during the playoffs to help the Stingrays to their second Kelly Cup championship.
From 1999 to 2001, Dexter worked as a player-coach with South Carolina.In that capacity, he served as a liaison between the coaching staff and the players. He also co-hosted a weekly, 30-minute Stingrays television show that addressed hockey-related topics.
As a senior at Colgate, Dexter registered 32 points, which is tied for seventh on the school¹s single-season scoring by defensemen list. He was named to the All-America second team and all-ECAC first team in 1996. He earned second-team all-ECAC honors as a junior, and was named to the league¹s all-rookie team his first season.
The Kingston, Ontario native is tied for 70th on Colgate¹s all-time career scoring list with 20 goals and 65 assists for 85 points in 108 games.Among Raider defensemen, Dexter ranks sixth in assists, eighth in points, and is tied for 10th in goals.
Dexter graduated from Colgate in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in education. He and his wife, Rhea, reside in Hamilton. The couple have two daughters, Mia (5) and Kennedy (3).
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