Beginning in 1994-95, Dennis Bonvie has been a useful role player on three different clubs. His strength was his rugged work in the corners combined with an ability to play right wing and defence.
Born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Bonvie played amateur hockey on the local junior club before heading to the OHL. Once there he played with the Kitchener Rangers and North Bay Centennials. He provided grit and muscle on both clubs and led the league with 316 penalty minutes in 1992-93. He spent the next season with the AHL's Cape Breton Oilers then signed as a free agent with the parent club in Edmonton. Over the next three years he played a handful of NHL games but toiled chiefly in the minors.
Bonvie was claimed on waivers by the Chicago Black Hawks on the eve of the 1998-99 season but played only eleven NHL games with the club. The next summer he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and lasted half a season before spending most of 2000-01 with Wilkes-Barre of the AHL. Over the course of the next two seasons, Bonvie had stints in Boston and Ottawa before being acquired by the Colorado Avalanche just prior to the 2004 NHL All-Star Game.
Upon his arrival with the Colorado organization, Bonvie was assigned to the club's AHL affiliate in Hershey.
