Born in Nipigon, Ontario, Dampier combined playing ice hockey with a degree course in Physical Education at Lakehead University.
Whilst with the Panthers, Dampier was twice named the British Ice Hockey Writers Association's Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1989.
The following season, 1995–96, the team again won the league championship (the final one before the formation of the Ice Hockey Superleague) as well as the playoffs and the Benson & Hedges Cup for the club's first grand slam.
Dampier's first involvement on the international scene came in 1981 when he was the coach of the Great Britain team at the World Championships Pool C tournament in Peking, China.
It was an inauspicious start for his international coaching career as the GB team lost all their matches and did not take part in world competition again until 1990.