Dave Flint

Dave Flint was named the sixth head coach of the women’s ice hockey program in 2008, and has led a women’s hockey renaissance on Huntington Avenue ever since. In 13 seasons behind the bench, Flint has guided Northeastern a 287-137-41 overall record (.661 winning percentage) and has helped the program to its first six NCAA tournament appearances (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022), five Hockey East tournament championships (2018, 2019, 2020. 2021, 2022), four Hockey East regular season titles (2012, 2019, 2020, 2022), three Beanpot crowns (2012, 2013, 2020) and two Frozen Four appearances (2021, 2022).


Another successful 2021-22 campaign was capped off by a second-straight trip to the Frozen Four and a fifth-straight Hockey East crown for Flint’s Huskies. With Flint behind the bench, Northeastern accomplished what no Hockey East team had done before, claim five-straight Hockey East titles. Tying a program record, four Huskies earned CCM/AHCA All-American honors in 2021-22, with Aerin Frankel and Skylar Fontaine being named to the first team and Maureen Murphy and Alina Mueller earning second team honors. For the second year in a row, Frankel, Fontaine and Mueller were named Top-10 finalists for the prestigious Patty Kazmaier memorial award. The Huskies led the nation with 45 power play goals (a Hockey East era record for the program), team shutouts (14) and scoring defense (1.05). Maureen Murphy also led the nation with 30 goals during the season.

Flint has been named the Hockey East Coach of the Year four times (2012, 2019, 2020, 2021) as well as the All-New England Coach of the Year (2012, 2019), and has overseen the development of four Patty Kazmaier top-three finalists in Florence Schelling (2012), 2016 award winner, Kendall Coyne, Alina Mueller (2020) and 2021 award winner, Aerin Frankel. Flint holds the Hockey East all-time record with a tournament record of 30-8 (.789) and Northeastern has a Hockey East-best eight championship game appearances over the last 12 years.

During the 2020-21 season, Flint captured the CCM/AHCA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Coach of the Year award after leading the nation in goals (104), assists (147), points (251), power-play goals (18), plus/minus (+68), shots on goal (977), shutouts (10), and scoring margin (+3.32) while also only allowing three power-play goals in 63 chances and scoring a NCAA-best seven hand shorthanded goals. Additionally, Northeastern led the country with a 22-game unbeaten streak and the Huskies won their fourth consecutive Hockey East Championship during the campaign.

The record book was rewritten during the 2020-21 campaign, with multiple individual and team records being shattered. The Huskies made their first appearance in the national championship game and the women's frozen four during the season in which they also set a program record 380-minute shutout streak. Under Flint, four Huskies were named to the CCM/AHCA All-America Team, three to NCAA All-Tournament Team and six to the Hockey East All-Stars. The first-ever trio of Huskies named as Patty Kazmaier Top-10 finalists with Frankel earning the final distinction.

In 2019-20, Flint helped Northeastern to its winningest season in program history (32-4-2), as the Huskies claimed the Hockey East regular season crown, Hockey East tournament championship, Beanpot title and a third straight berth into the NCAA tournament. Under Flint’s guidance Alina Mueller and Aerin Frankel were named Top-10 Finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and Mueller was named a Top-3 Finalist. The Huskies cleaned up at the Hockey East Awards banquet, with five Huskies (Alina Mueller, Matti Hartman, Skylar Fontaine, Paige Capistran and Aerin Frankel) earning individual honors and four Huskies being named First-Team All-Stars (Skylar Fontaine, Aerin Frankel, Alina Mueller and Chloe Aurard). Additionally, Mueller and Frankel were each named First-Team All-Americans and Fontaine was named a Second-Team All-American.

The 2015-16 campaign served as a breakout campaign for Flint’s Huskies, as the program owned a 28-9-1 record, and the Huskies reached the NCAA tournament for the first time. Under Flint's tutelage, senior Kendall Coyne was named the 2016 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner as the top player in NCAA Division I women's ice hockey after leading the nation in goals (50), goals per game (1.35), points per game (2.27), shorthanded goals (5) and hat tricks (5). A member of Flint's 2011 recruiting class, Coyne finished her career as the all-time leading scorer at Northeastern (249 points) and the ninth-highest scorer in the NCAA since 2000. The two-time Olympian (and 2018 gold medalist) was also named the 2016 Cammi Granato Award Winner for the Player of the Year in Hockey East, becoming the second Husky and third honoree to win the award under Flint's guidance (Florence Schelling won in 2010 and 2012).

In addition to developing four Patty Kazmaier top-3 finalists, Flint has also produced six CCM/AHCA All-Americans (Coyne, Schelling, Mueller, Frankel, Fontaine and Murphy), seven Olympians (Coyne, Hayley Scamurra, Mueller, Denisa Krizova, Rachel Llanes, Schelling and Julia Marty), 37 Hockey East All-Star selections (including 14 First Team honorees) and 16 Hockey East All-Rookie honorees.

Flint's Huskies have also excelled in the classroom as NU has accumulated 102 Hockey East All-Academic selections over the last 10 years. In 2018-19, Northeastern was one of only six Division-I women's hockey programs to be recognized with an NCAA Public Recognition Award for finishing in the top 10% of the sport in terms of Academic Progress Rate (APR).

Flint's track record for developing Northeastern's netminders speaks for itself. Olympic bronze medalist Florence Schelling graduated as the program's all-time leader in career goals against average (1.74) and save percentage (.940), while goaltender Chloe Desjardins finished her career as NU's all-time leader in games played (104) and total saves (2,808). Aerin Frankel left Huntington Avenue as the most decorated goaltender in program history. Frankel was the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner in 2020-21, a two-time National Goalie of the Year and four-time Hockey East Goaltender of the Year. Additionally, Frankel closed out her career with 103 wins, becoming just the ninth goaltender in NCAA history to reach that milestone and owns every single career goaltending record in program history.

In only his third full season behind the bench, Flint helped the Huskies capture their first Women's Beanpot title in 14 years in 2012. Northeastern then repeated as the Beanpot champion in 2013. In 2020, the Beanpot was once again brought back to Huntington Avenue for the 17th time— the most among the four competing schools.

Flint arrived at Northeastern from St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., where he built the women’s hockey program from the ground up and served as the head coach for five years. After serving as assistant coach to the men’s hockey team at St. Anselm for seven years, Flint took over the women’s hockey team in 2003 and was charged with overseeing the program's transition to varsity status. In the first varsity season, Flint led St. Anselm to a 21-3-1 record and an ECAC Open championship in 2004-05. The Hawks then won back-to-back ECAC Open titles in Flint's final two seasons (2006-08), and led the nation in scoring defense in three of Flint's four seasons at the helm of the varsity program.

Flint's exceptional work at St. Anselm did not go unnoticed as he was named the ECAC East Coach of the Year three times, and was a three-time finalist for National Coach of the Year. Flint coached three ECAC East Players of the Year, two Rookies of the Year and one Goalie of the Year, as well as two All-Americans. Over Flint’s four-year tenure, the Hawks compiled a record of 88-15-2.

Flint worked in the St. Anselm athletic department for 11 years, first as an athletic trainer and assistant coach of the men’s hockey team before taking over the women’s program. With the men’s squad, Flint was responsible for recruiting and coaching the team’s defensemen and goaltenders. While Flint was on the coaching staff, the Hawks won ECAC Division II Championships in 2000 and 2001.

Since 2005, Flint has also been a member of the USA Hockey staff. In 2008, he was appointed the goaltending coach and advisor for the women’s national program, where he evaluated and instructed goaltenders at all levels. He was on staff for the U.S. National Team that won the silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, as well as the gold-medal winning team at the 2008 World Championship in Harbin, China. Flint also served as an assistant coach to the U.S. Select Team that participated in the Four Nations Cup in 2009.

Since 1999, Flint has served as director of off-ice conditioning and as assistant to the director of on-ice instruction at Superskills Hockey in Tewksbury, Mass., an off-season training site for amateur and professional goaltenders. In addition, he is an instructor at the Daccord Goaltending Camps and Pro Prospect Camps in Manchester, N.H., and has worked with former NHL goaltenders Peter Skudra, Andrew Raycroft and Scott Clemmensen.

A 1993 graduate of North Adams State College (now the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts), he was a four-year member as a goalie on the varsity men’s ice hockey team. He was named Team MVP as a senior. Flint received his bachelor’s degree in Biology with a concentration in Sports Medicine. He is an Athletic Trainer Certified and a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist.

Flint currently resides in Merrimack, N.H., with his wife, Alison, and their two children, Paige and Tate.