Hakstol was the head coach for Sioux City Musketeers for four seasons, followed by four years as an assistant at his alma mater, the University of North Dakota.

[1] Hakstol is a native of Warburg, Alberta; he played for the UND Fighting Sioux from 1989 to 1992 and in the International Hockey League (IHL) for five years.

When Blais left for the NHL in 2004, Hakstol was promoted to head coach and led UND to the NCAA Frozen Four seven times in eleven seasons.

[7] On April 11, 2017, it was announced that Hakstol would join Jon Cooper, Gerard Gallant, and Dave King as coaches of Canada's men's national ice hockey team for the 2017 IIHF World Championship tournament.

[11][12] In their second season, he was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year, after the Kraken qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history and improved by 19 wins and 40 points in the standings.