BY CHRIS ROBBINS
A new era of Stonehill Hockey has begun with the hiring of new head coach David Berard.
Berard is now the 12th men’s hockey coach in program history as Stonehill gears up for its third year in division 1.
Coach Berard comes to Stonehill with a combined 29 years of coaching experience with eight of those as a Division l head coach. Berard spent 21 years as an assistant coach with 16 of those years spent at his alma mater Providence College.
He spent his time at Providence as the team’s backup goaltender, starting in only five games. Before taking the job at Stonehill, he spent his last three years back at Providence as the Assistant Vice President/Associate Deputy Athletic Director for Coaching Excellence.
He also found success in recruiting talent during his time at Providence, bringing in three AHCA All Americans and seven Hockey East All Stars. Berard has also had 23 of his recruits have been drafted into the NHL, 10 of which would play in the league.
Berard’s most recent stint as a head coach was at College of the Holy Cross where he spent seven seasons. Under Berard, Holy Cross had four consecutive winning seasons in the Atlantic Hockey Conference as well as three first round byes in the Atlantic Hockey Tournament.
Berard’s first shot as a head coach came in 2012 during his time as an assistant coach at UConn, where he was appointed the Interim Head Coach only five games into the season. He would end up leading UConn to the team’s first winning season since the 1999-2000 season with a record of 19-10-3.
In an interview with Stonehill College Berard said, “Thank you to (President) Father John Denning and Dean O’Keefe for providing me the opportunity to lead the program into a new era. I am confident with our shared vision, passion, and commitment, that we will be successful in building a strong and competitive Division I hockey program. I am excited to start and look forward to the future.”
Stonehill hockey hopes to bounce back from a tough season with their new hed coach and is excited for this new era of the team. “We are thrilled to welcome David Berard to Stonehill as our men's ice hockey head coach and are excited for him to lead our student-athletes as together they build a program that is on the rise,” said Stonehill Athletic Director Dean O’Keefe.