Tippett played in the NHL from 1983 to 1994 as a winger for the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals.

Tippett began playing with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) in the 1979–80 season.

After two seasons with the Raiders, Tippett joined the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

Tippett spent the entire 1984–85 season in Hartford, appearing in all 80 games, scoring seven goals and 19 points, though the Whalers failed to qualify for the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The 1985–86 season saw Tippett once again appear in all 80 games with the Whalers, as he improved his offensive totals to 14 goals and 34 points, helping the team into the 1986 playoffs.

In his first post-season experience in the NHL, Tippett had two goals and four points in ten games as Hartford eventually lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Montreal Canadiens.

Tippett had his best offensive season in 1988–89, as he scored a career high 17 goals and 41 points, appearing in all 80 games again for Hartford, helping them into the playoffs.

After the season, Tippett became a free agent, and on August 25, 1992, he signed a contract with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Tippett once again became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with the Houston Aeros of the International Hockey League (IHL) as a player and an assistant coach.

[1] After the Aeros started off the season with a 12–27–3 record, the team fired Head Coach Terry Ruskowski and named Tippett as his replacement.

In the playoffs, the Aeros quickly swept the Las Vegas Thunder in three games, followed by a five-game series win over the San Antonio Dragons in the second round.

In the playoffs, the heavily favoured Aeros had a bye in the first round, followed by a close best-of-five series against the Long Beach Ice Dogs, in which Houston prevailed with a win in the decisive Game 5.

Tippett was named the IHL Coach of the Year, while the Aeros won the Fred A. Huber Jr. Memorial Trophy for having the best record in the League during the regular season.

In the 1999–2000 season, the Kings saw a 25-point improvement as the team went 39–27–12–4, helping the club make the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, where they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round.

In his first season with the club in 2002–03, Tippett led the Stars to a 46–17–15–4 record, finishing in first place in the Pacific Division with 111 points, which represented a 21-point improvement over the previous year.

[3][4] On September 24, 2009, Tippett took over the coaching duties of the Phoenix Coyotes after Wayne Gretzky resigned from the position earlier that day.

During the previous season, Owner Jerry Moyes had secretly turned over operational control of the team to the NHL due to mounting losses.

The NHL, however, successfully contended that Moyes and Balsillie had violated League rules, prompting them to take full control of the team.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, they defeated the Nashville Predators in five games, thus notching more playoff series wins than they had in their entire NHL history.

Their run ended with a five-game loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the Conference Finals.

Racked with injuries and off-ice trouble, the team did not make playoffs for the first time during Tippett's tenure, finishing the season at 21–18–9, missing the post-season by five points.