By James Brooks, News Staff
Northeastern Athletic Director Peter Roby has thrown womens’ hockey head coach Dave Flint’s old contract in the paper shredder. He wants nothing but to forget about the old piece of paper that had Flint signed through the 2012-13 season.
Roby had every right to want that old piece of paper out of his sight – It was a sour reminder of a time when Northeastern was not fortunate enough to have Flint signed through 2015-2016, three years more than the original contract called for.
Those extra three years aren’t an accident. Roby announced last Wednesday that Flint has earned the ultimate compliment an athletic director can give – a three year contract extension.
“I am excited to announce this contract extension for Dave,” Roby said in a statement released by the Athletics Department. “His program has continued to improve each year and competes at a national level. His leadership and commitment to our student-athletes is very much appreciated.”
Over the last three years, the Flint-led Huskies went 45-42-18, (.514). In order to appreciate the transformation Flint has sparked in just three years, look back to the state of the team at a time when Flint was still coaching at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire.
In the four years leading up to Flint’s hiring, the Huskies were an abysmal 23-99-10 (.212) overall. Since that point, the coach, entering his fourth year with the squad, has managed to come within four games of doubling the win total of his predecessor, and in a year’s less time. It logically follows that Roby has thrown the keys to Flint for an extra three years.
But Roby isn’t the only Husky excited about the extension.
Junior forward Rachel Llanes is one of several players on the squad who thinks the extension is a wise move on Northeastern’s part. However, that doesn’t mean Llanes was surprised her coach had a few years tacked on to his contract.
“It was no shock to me to hear about his contract extension,” Llanes said. “He has proven to be a very successful and consistent coach. Since coming to Northeastern four years ago, he has really turned the program around and put us on track to be a top team in the NCAA.”
Although sophomore forward Katie MacSorley has only played one year under Flint’s supervision, she has already formed a strong opinion of her head coach.
“I think that is great that I can play for him for the remainder of my NU career,”MacSorley said. “He will continue to make the program stronger and I will know what is expected of me for my remanding seasons.”
It certainly doesn’t hurt the team’s current condition considering that Flint’s top two goal scorers, MacSorley and Llanes, not only have multiple years of eligibility left, but are both avid supporters of their head coaches.
While Roby and Flint’s top two scorers support the extension, no decisions regarding the matter could have been made official without Flint himself and his willingness to sign the dotted line on the extension paperwork.
According to Flint, the father of two had zero reservations with putting pen to paper.
“I want to be here for a while,” Flint said. “It’s good to know they want me here for a while, too. [My family] likes where we are, and we’re happy here, so it was pretty good news for all of us.”
Although Flint is ecstatic about his newfound job security and a chance to remain in Boston, there is one thing he is troubled by: student attendance to his squad’s games.
“The last couple years we’ve been in the top 10 in the nation,” Flint said. “I know how big of a deal the DogHouse is for the men’s game. We’d love to have just a fraction of that on hand.”
