Mar. 30—GRAND FORKS — UND hired Dane Jackson as the 17th coach of the men's hockey program on Saturday night.
Here are 10 things to know about UND's new coach:
1. Jackson was recruited in 1988 from the Vernon Lakers of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. His signing class also featured Russ Romaniuk, Dixon Ward, Wade Bartley and Jason Herter. Jackson, Romaniuk, Ward and Herter played in the NHL. Herter was a finalist for the UND head coaching job.
2. Jackson had three four-goal games during his playing days. He did it against Minnesota, Alaska (Fairbanks) and Denver. Since 1960, only one other UND player has posted three four-goal games. Brandon Bochenski did it against Princeton, Brown and Alaska Anchorage.
3. Jackson made his NHL debut on Dec. 14, 1993, for the Vancouver Canucks at the Calgary Flames. He scored his first two NHL goals against the Winnipeg Jets three days later. His final NHL game was for the New York Islanders against the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 24, 1998.
4. In 1996, Jackson captained the Rochester Americans to the Calder Cup title in the American Hockey League. Rochester beat Portland in seven games. The head coach of that team was John Tortorella, who won two Jack Adams Awards as NHL Coach of the Year. Jackson was inducted into the Rochester Americans' Hall of Fame during the 2012-13 season.
5. Jackson's first coaching job was in 2002-03 with the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. He served as an assistant under head coach Bruce Boudreau, who once won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's Coach of the Year.
6. Jackson also has strong ties to another NHL head coach. He grew up in Castlegar, B.C., along with Travis Green, who is now the coach of the Ottawa Senators. They were both born the same year and were teammates with the Castlegar Rebels at age 16. They reunited as teammates briefly with the New York Islanders.
7. In 2006, Jackson was hired by Dave Hakstol to be an assistant coach at UND after Brad Berry left for a job with the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose. His first series was in Ralph Engelstad Arena against Quinnipiac. UND swept 6-2, 4-2. Jonathan Toews had a hat trick and four points in Game 2.
8. Jackson was promoted to associate head coach by Berry in 2015 after Berry was named head coach. He held that position for 10 seasons.
9. Jackson is the second-longest tenured coach in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, only behind Minnesota Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin (25 seasons).
10. Jackson and his wife, Carrie, have three children — Dillon, Dallas and Lila.
