UND's Hakstol to Coach NHL Seattle

 

The National Hockey League's new Seattle franchise has already gotten Kraken with the naming of former NCAA player and coach Dave Hakstol (North Dakota) as its first-ever head coach.

Hakstol, 52, spent the past two seasons as an NHL assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He served as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from 2015 to 2018, with whom he fashioned a regular-season record of 134-101-42 while also earning two Stanley Cup Playoff berths.

Hakstol took the Flyers job immediately following 15 seasons coaching at his alma mater, all but four of those as head coach. He led North Dakota to 11 NCAA tournament appearances and seven Frozen Four berths, while also winning six regular-season or playoff championships in the old Western College Hockey Association, and one such crown in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. His career record at UND as head coach from 2004 to 2015, while claiming those aforementioned laurels, was 289-143-43 (.654).

Hakstol, who hails from Warburg, Alberta, skated on defense for UND from 1989 to 1992. In three seasons with the then-Fighting Sioux, the last two as team captain, he tallied 10 goals and 36 assists for 46 points to go with 191 penalty minutes. 

He played five seasons in the old International Hockey League before getting into coaching with Sioux City (USHL), serving four seasons (1996-2000) with the Musketeers before returning to UND. He also helped Team Canada to silver-medal finishes as an assistant coach at both the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.

The Seattle Kraken will begin play this fall as the 32nd and newest NHL club.

Flyers Release Former UND Coach Hakstol

The Philadelphia Flyers relieved head coach Dave Hakstol of his duties on Monday. The Alberta native was in his fourth season with the club, having moved directly from the

University of North Dakota to the NHL three years ago. He finished with a record of 134-101-42 overall in Philadelphia, according to NHL.com, with two Stanley Cup Playoff berths.

Prior to joining the Flyers in 2015, Hakstol spent 11 seasons at UND, and led the then-Fighting Sioux to a 289-143-43 (.654) overall mark. UND advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all 11 campaigns, including seven Frozen Four appearances and a national runner-up finish in 2005. Prior to coaching UND, he spent four seasons as the head coach of the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers.

A former defenseman at UND (1989-1992), Hakstol, 50, played professionally with both Indianapolis and Minnesota of the now-defunct International Hockey League, prior to taking over the bench in Sioux City. He was succeeded in Philadelphia by former Lehigh Valley (AHL) head coach Scott Gordon (Boston College), who won his NHL debut Tuesday night with the Flyers' 3-2 victory over visiting Detroit.

Hakstol Leaving UND for NHL

University of North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol is taking the reins of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, according to ESPN.

Hakstol, an Alberta native who went 289-143-43 in 11 seasons in Grand Forks, and led UND to seven NCAA Frozen Fours and four WCHA Tournament titles in that span, accepted the Flyers job Monday after resigning from North Dakota. UND went 29-10-3 this past season, falling to Boston University in an NCAA semifinal matchup in Boston.

A former UND lettermen on defense, Hakstol also played five professional seasons in the International Hockey League, according to his profile at hockeydb.com.His hiring was announced by Flyers general manager and former goaltender Ron Hextall, whose son, Brett, played for Hakstol at UND, and is now in the Flyers' system.

Hakstol, 46, replaces former Philadelphia Flyers player Craig Berube, who was dismissed after two seasons at his old team's helm. Philadelphia finished 33-31-18 this past season, and outside the Stanley Cup playoff picture for the second time in three campaigns.

UND assistant coach Brad Berry was expected to be named head coach of the former Fighting Sioux later on Monday.

North Dakota Captains Suspended for Season Opener

There's trouble in Grand Forks. Again. 

North Dakota senior men's hockey captain Andrew MacWilliam and assistant captains Corban Knight, Danny Kristo and Carter Rowney have all been suspended for UND's opener on Oct. 19 against WCHA opponent Alaska Anchorage at the Brice Alaska Goal Rush in Fairbanks, AK.

The quartet has been suspended for allegedly violating team rules as the result of a party that was held on Sept. 15, according to USCHO.com.

“The behavior in this situation was unacceptable,” North Dakota athletic director Brian Faison said in a prepared statement issued by the university. “Measures taken by the athletics department do not preclude possible additional measures by the department, or actions by the university or local and state authorities.”

The team is also on probation, according to Faison, with further violations possibly costing players as much as their scholarships.

It's not the first time something like this has happened at UND, or under head coach Dave Hakstol's watch.

Former UND forward Matt Frattin was acquitted on drunk driving charges in 2010 after he was dismissed from the squad for violating team rules. He had previously been brought up on disorderly conduct charges. Frattin returned to lead the Fighting Sioux to the 2011 NCAA Frozen Four, and was also a Hobey Baker Award finalist that season before turning pro.

In Feb. 2007, then-Sioux forwards Jonathan Toews and T. J. Oshie,. now both established NHL players, were cited for being minors in a Grand Forks bar, while teammate Robbie Bina reportedly faced charges of obstructing a police officer in the same incident.

Incidents, especially those involving alcohol, can and do happen on or near college campuses all the time - witness last season with two incidents at Boston University, or in 2010 at Boston College, or in July with Minnesota's Erik Haula. That doesn't excuse them, as they give all of college hockey a black eye.

Hopefully this will be the last incident in Grand Forks for a while. Forever is too long a time to ask for.