Dave Hakstol leaves North Dakota to coach Flyers; Brad Berry next UND coach

Dave Hakstol announced his resignation as University of North Dakota hockey coach Monday morning to become the new head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Assistant coach Brad Berry was named to succeed Hakstol.

In a press release from UND, Hakstol said: "I have spent the better part of my professional life with the University of North Dakota hockey program and every day of it has been a privilege. I've had the chance to work with and learn from some of the best people in hockey and I'm lucky to be able to call them my friends. I want to thank the staff, players and fans who have helped make this such a special place for our family."

The 46-year-old Hakstol spent the last 11 seasons at North Dakota. He went 289-143-43 with a .654 winning percentage in 475 games. In 2014-15, he led North Dakota to a 29-10-3 record with a .726 winning percentage and a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four.

He also played for UND from 1989 to 1992, and was captain of the team for two seasons.

Hakstol will be the fourth college coach to jump directly into the NHL as a head coach. The others are Ned Harkness (Cornell to Detroit in 1970), Bob Johnson (Wisconsin to Calgary in 1982) and Herb Brooks (St. Cloud State to the North Stars in 1987).

North Dakota made the NCAA Tournament in every one of Hakstol's 11 seasons and reached the Frozen Four seven times in that span, which is the most of any program in the country during that period.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall fired coach Craig Berube at the end of the season after he failed to lead them to the playoffs. The Flyers have not won a Stanley Cup since 1975.
"I wasn't going to choose the coach that was the people's choice, the popular choice," Hextall said Monday. "I was going to pick the coach that I felt like for this franchise from today, next year, moving forward was the right coach. Dave was the right coach for this franchise."

Hakstol will inherit some talent. Jake Voracek and team captain Claude Giroux spent most of the season in the hunt for an NHL scoring title and each finished with some stout stats: Voracek had 22 goals and 81 points and Giroux had 25 goals and 73 points. Wayne Simmonds led the Flyers with 28 goals and Steve Mason's 2.25 GAA was the lowest for a Flyers goalie since 2003-04. Defenseman Mark Streit had 52 points.

"I believe in what we do and I believe in the things that I do, and I'm not going to change that," Hakstol said. "Do I need to alter the delivery of the message? Maybe a little bit. The fact that I do not have experience at this level, I'm not going to pretend that I do. But I do have an awful lot of confidence in terms of knowing the game well."