Dave Hakstol back behind the bench at the Spengler Cup

GRAND FORKS — Dave Hakstol is back behind the bench for the holidays.

The former UND captain and head coach is serving as an assistant coach for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland.

The Spengler Cup is an annual six-team invitation hockey tournament hosted by HC Davos. Hockey Canada sends a team to the tournament every year.

The Spengler Cup will run through New Year's Eve.

Canada's head coach is Gerrard Gallant, the former coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and New York Rangers. Hakstol is one of three assistants. The others are Mike Kelly and Johan Lundskog.

The staff was selected by general managers Joe Thornton and Brad Pascall, one of Hakstol's UND teammates.

This is Hakstol's first coaching gig since being let go by the Seattle Kraken in the spring. Hakstol is still under contract in Seattle for two more seasons.

This is the third time Hakstol has been selected to coach Team Canada.

He served as an assistant coach for the 2017 and 2019 IIHF Men's World Championship teams. Both won silver medals.

There are a few other UND participants in this year's Spengler Cup.

Zane McIntyre, a standout goalie at Thief River Falls High School and UND, is in net for Straubing, a German team.

Jasper Weatherby, who played center at UND for three seasons, is a forward for Dynamo Pardubice, a Czech team.

Adam Tambellini, who played one semester at UND before jumping to Canadian major juniors, plays for host Davos.

Fribourg-Gotteron (Switzerland) and Karpat Oulu (Finland) are the other participating teams.

Hakstol played for UND from 1989-91. He spent four years as an assistant at UND (2000-04) and 11 years as head coach (2004-15). As a head coach, he led UND to the NCAA Frozen Four seven times.

He left to become head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2015. He was with the Flyers for three-and-a-half seasons, leading Philadelphia to the playoffs twice.

Hakstol then spent two years as an assistant for the Toronto Maple Leafs before being introduced as the first head coach in Seattle Kraken history.

Hakstol coached the Kraken for three seasons, leading them within a game of the Western Conference Finals in 2023. That season, Hakstol was one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year.

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald's circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.