USA! USA! What we learned from all the things Dave Hakstol has ‘liked’ on Twitter

For a few months now, we’ve suspected that this Dave Hakstol Twitter account is really, actually Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol. But there was no way to know for sure.

On Monday, however the Flyers retweeted a tribute from that account — it was Hakstol honoring WCHA referee Butch Mousseau, who tragically passed away this weekend after falling on the ice during warmups of a game a few weeks back.

You should absolutely donate to that cause if you are able. By all accounts, Mousseau was a fantastic person and a wonderful member of the college hockey family.

On a much lighter note, though — apologies for the awkward shift in mood here — the Flyers’ retweet of that account means we now that we know this is Hakstol’s account, so we took a peek at the tweets he’s liked. There’s a lot to unpack in here.

Maybe he likes the USA more than his birth country?

Hakstol is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. He’s spent his entire hockey career in the States, though, from the time he was a player at the University of North Dakota through his coaching tenure there to his current job in Philadelphia. Back in November, he was quoted as being firmly on the fence on his national identity:

Not usually one to spark laughter in interviews, here’s Flyers coach Dave Hakstol, noting he’s a dual Canadian-American citizen, when asked if he planned to hold a team practice on our Thanksgiving Day: “I’m like 51 percent–49 percent, but I just can’t decide which is which. I guess it depends which country wins the gold medal.”

But in March 2014, on the day the United States and Canada faced off in the semifinals of the Paralympic sled hockey tournament, he liked this tweet from ESPN’s John Buccigross:

Hmm. Maybe Hakstol is as red blooded and American as the rest of us.

He really, really loves the North Dakota Fighting Sioux

… and yes, we say the Fighting Sioux instead of Fighting Hawks because despite the NCAA-mandated name change, it’s evident that Hakstol — like most North Dakota hockey people — is a fervent supporter of the old name.

More than anything though, he’s still really invested in his old team and the college game in general. Here are some tweets he’s liked:

(That really is amazing facial hair.)

About half of the tweets he’s liked are about college hockey — North Dakota or otherwise. Can’t blame him for keeping an eye on the team that’s both his alma mater and the one he coached for a decade. And hey, I personally know this all too well … when you catch the college hockey bug, there’s no going back. You’re a fan for life.

(PS — sorry, Dave. That national title belongs to Quinnipiac this year, not North Dakota.)

He doesn’t like the new NHL website either

Preach, brother.

He’s interested in Andrew Ladd / Dustin Byfuglien trade rumors (?!?!?)

He reads SB Nation! (… even if it’s our Caps blog, ugh)

Also: strongly agree with both Dave and Japers’ Rink that Craig Custance is a good hockey writer. One of the best.

He apparently gets his own goalie news from Twitter

HELL YEAH THE FLYERS ARE ONLY TWO POINTS OUT, COACH

Anyway, go follow Dave Hakstol on Twitter. He’s the coach of the damn Philadelphia Flyers and he only has 2,119 followers. That ain’t right.