Gilbert Dionne, the younger brother of NHL hall-of-famer Marcel Dionne, was the fourth-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 1990, selected 81st overall.
Dionne was somewhat of a late bloomer in junior, although he did have an excellent final season of major junior action, scoring 48 goals and 57 assists for 105 points with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers in 1989-90. Dionne led the Rangers all the way to the Memorial Cup final in Hamilton that year, where they lost in double overtime to Eric Lindros and the Oshawa Generals. During that 17-game playoff run, Dionne scored 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points. His performance caught the attention of scouts, but because he was a 19-year-old, teams were wary about using him with a high draft pick. Finally, the Canadiens selected him in round four.
Dionne dressed for two games in 1990-91, but was essentially relegated to the bench, seeing very little ice time. The majority of his season was spent in Fredericton. It was the following year that Dionne broke into the Habs lineup for 329 games, scoring 21 goals and 13 assists for 34 points. In 1992-93, he dressed for 75 games, scoring 20 goals and 28 assists for 48 points. During the playoffs, Dionne raised his game to another level, playing sound two-way hockey, scoring six goals and six assists in 20 games as the Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings to win the Stanley Cup four games to one.
In 1993-94, the organization had hoped Dionne would be able to improve upon his offensive numbers, but in 74 games he registered just 45 points. Injuries and a drop in production limited him to just 19 games the following year before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. Since that trade, Dionne has played in just 27 NHL games, 22 with the Flyers and five with the Florida Panthers, registering just one goal. Most of Dionne's on-ice performances since 1996 have been in the minors, where he still plays. He had consecutive 40-goal seasons with the Carolina Monarchs of the AHL in 1996-97 and the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL in 1997-98 but was not called up to the big leagues at any time. Dionne played for three more seasons with the Cyclones, hoping, in vein, to get the call back to the NHL.
In 2001-02 Dionne is playing for Krefeld Penguins of the German Elite League.
