Dave Hakstol is ready to be the Seattle Kraken’s first ever head coach
SEATTLE (BVM) — Dave Hakstol was named the first ever Seattle Kraken head coach on June 24, 2021.
Before he got the head coaching job Hakstol started out as a player at the University of North Dakota from 1989 to 1992. He then went into playing minor league hockey for the Indianapolis Ice and Minnesota Moose before deciding to go the coaching route.
He began his coaching career as an assistant head coach with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League where he would then be named interim head coach during the 1996-1997 season.
Hakstol was able to turn this team around which allowed him to remain with the Musketeers for the next four seasons.
He was hired as an assistant coach at his alma matter in North Dakota in 2000. In 2004, head coach Dean Blais took a job as an assistant coach on the Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL and Hakstol was promoted to the head coaching job.
Hakstol would become a household name at North Dakota by getting to the NCAA Frozen Four seven times, winning the conference coach of the year awards in 2009 and 2015 and being an eight-time finalist for coach of the year.
In his 11 years at North Dakota Hakstol had a record of 289-143-43 which would equate to a .654 winning percentage.
While at North Dakota he coached current NHL players Brock Boesser, Drake Caggiula, Aaron Dell, Derek Forbort, Rocco Grimaldi, Tyson Jost, Paul LaDue, Brock Nelson, TJ Oshie, Carter Rowney, Nick Schmaltz, Troy Stetcher and Jonathan Toews.
Then after the 2015 season it was announced that Hakstol would be the next head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.
After officially being hired by the Flyers Hakstol would become the first coach since Bob Johnson in 1982 to go straight from coaching college hockey to coaching in the National Hockey League.
Hakstol would get his first NHL win at home against the Florida Panthers by a score of 1-0 in the third game of the season.
While he was coach of the Flyers he was asked to join Team Canada as a coach for the 2017 IIHF World Championship tournament. Canada went 6-0-1 in the round robin style tournament.
Team Canada would then make it all the way to the finals where they would lose to Sweden 2-1.
Hakstol returned to the Flyers bench for the 2018-2019 season but was fired after a 12-15-4 start to the season.
He would find work next season as the Toronto Maple Leafs would add him to their coaching staff as an assistant coach. Hakstol would stay on the Maple Leafs’ staff until the end of the 2020-2021 season when he was hired as the head coach of the Kraken.
Hakstol would then get a second chance at an NHL head coaching job by being hired as the Seattle Kraken’s first ever head coach.
