Antigonish County native Dennis Bonvie will be inducted in the American Hockey League Hall of Fame.
Bonvie logged 871 games in the AHL over 15 professional seasons. He began his career with the Cape Breton Oilers in 1993 and was chosen to participate in the AHL All-Star Game in 1995, scoring the first goal in the modern event’s history.
He made stops in Hamilton, Portland and Philadelphia before joining the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in their inaugural season in 1999 and quickly became a fan favourite, helping the team reach the Calder Cup Finals in 2001.
Later, he had stops in Providence, Binghampton and Hershey before returing to Wilkes-Barre, where he retired in 2008 with 84 goals, 191 assists and a pro hockey record 4,493 penalty minutes in his AHL career.
Dennie Bonvie (American Hockey League photo)
Since his retirement he’s been a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins where he has been director of professional scouting since 2022.
Bonvie is one of four people to be formally inducted into the hall at the league’s 2024 all star game in San Jose. The hall of fame is housed online at ahlhalloffame.com