MONTREAL, QUEBEC – Montreal Canadiens and Hamilton Bulldogs General Manager Marc Bergevin announced today the Bulldogs have signed forward Jake Dowell to a one-year American Hockey League contract for the 2014-2015 season.

Dowell split 2013-2014 between the National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild and its AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. In one regular season game with Minnesota, the 29-year-old recorded no points and no penalty minutes. In 57 regular season games with Iowa, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin native registered 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) and 56 penalty minutes.

A veteran of eight professional seasons, Dowell has participated in 462 NHL and AHL regular season games combined. In 305 career AHL regular season games with the Iowa Wild, Houston Aeros, Rockford IceHogs and Norfolk Admirals, the 6’0”, 204-pound forward has compiled 93 points (33 goals, 60 assists) and 386 penalty minutes. In 157 career NHL regular season games with the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks, he has recorded 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) and 133 penalty minutes. In 2013-2014, he was the recipient of the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award as the player who best exemplified qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey, voted on by the league’s players, coaches and media.

Before turning pro, Dowell played four seasons with the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s University of Wisconsin Badgers. In 159 career games with Wisconsin between 2003 and 2007, he recorded 90 points (42 goals, 48 assists) and 218 penalty minutes. As an amateur, he won an NCAA national championship with Wisconsin in 2006 and an International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-20 Championship with the United States in 2004.

Dowell was originally selected by the Blackhawks in the fifth round (140^th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.