Did Dave Hakstol play hockey?

From 1989 to 1992, Dave Hakstol played hockey at the University of North Dakota. He played in the minor leagues for five years, including stints with the Indianapolis Ice and Minnesota Moose.

He became a coach with the Sioux City Musketeers after retiring as a player. He took over for a fired head coach in the middle of the 1996-97 season and stayed for four years.

In 2000, Hakstol joined his alma mater, North Dakota, as an assistant coach. He was named head coach in 2004.

Hakstol led North Dakota to the NCAA Frozen Four seven times during his tenure as head coach. As a result of his impact, Hakstol was named conference coach of the year in 2009 and 2015. He was a finalist for national coach of the year eight times.

On May 18, 2015, it was announced that Hakstol would become the 19th head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, making him the first head coach to go directly from the NCAA to the NHL since 1982. (Bob Johnson from the University of Wisconsin to the Calgary Flames).

On April 11, 2017, it was announced that Hakstol would be joining Jon Cooper, Gerard Gallant, and Dave King as Canada’s men’s national ice hockey team coaches for the 2017 IIHF World Championship tournament.

After a 12-15-4 start to the 2018-19 season, the Flyers fired Hakstol as head coach on December 17, 2018.

On June 29, 2019, Hakstol was hired as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ assistant head coach.

On June 24, 2021, Hakstol was appointed as the Seattle Kraken’s first head coach.