Hockey was in Kevin Dineen's blood. His father, Bill Dineen, was a longtime coach in the NHL, World Hockey Association and American Hockey League; one brother, Gord Dineen, was a longtime NHL defenseman, and another, Peter Dineen, played 13 NHL games as a defenseman in the late 1980s.

The Hartford Whalers selected Kevin Dineen, a forward, in the third round (No. 56) of the 1982 NHL Draft after his first season at the University of Denver. He played one more season with Denver, played for Canada's national and Olympic teams in 1983-84 and began the 1984-85 season with Binghamton of the AHL. He made his NHL debut with the Whalers on Dec. 3, 1984, against the Montreal Canadiens, and scored his first NHL goal 12 days later, also against the Canadiens.

Dineen finished his first NHL season with 25 goals, scored 33 in his second season, then bumped that total to 40 in 1986-87. Two years later, Dineen had NHL career highs in goals (45), assists (44) and points (89). But he dropped to 25 goals in 1989-90 and 17 the following season, and the Whalers traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 13, 1991, after he began the 1991-92 season with four goals in 16 games.

The new surroundings revitalized Dineen's offensive game for a while. He scored 26 goals and 56 points in 64 games after the trade, then scored 35 goals in 1992-93, but after struggling the next few seasons he was traded back to the Whalers on Dec. 28, 1995. Dineen scored 19 goals in 1996-97, the last time he reached double figures, made the move when the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997, played two seasons with Carolina, one with the Ottawa Senators and was in his third season with the Columbus Blue Jackets when he retired Nov. 5, 2002.

Dineen played 1,188 NHL games in 19 seasons, scored 760 points (355 goals, 405 assists), and took 2,229 penalty minutes. He also scored 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) in 59 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

After retiring, Dineen followed his father into coaching. He guided the Florida Panthers to the first division title in their history in 2011-12, though they lost in the first round of the playoffs and was an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2015.