The Dubuque Fighting Saints are proud to announce the hiring of Oliver David as Head Coach, effective immediately. David, 38, makes his return to the Fighting Saints organization after a one-year stint as an assistant coach for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. He will be formally re-introduced to the media and the fans at a press conference on June 5 at the Mystique Community Ice Center.

In his most recent venture in Portland, the Winterhawks finished with a 40-28-4 record, 4th in the U.S. Division, and made it to the Western Conference Semifinal round.

David, a Californian by birth by way of Los Angeles, has firsthand experience with the established winning culture with the Fighting Saints. He served as an assistant coach for the Saints for two seasons with Matt Shaw at the helm of the program, and then was promoted to associate head coach and assistant general manager under Jason Lammers for the 2015–16 season. The Saints accumulated a record of 108-61-11 (.639) over the course of those three seasons.

 

David was a fixture in the Dubuque community as the leader of the Live Like A Saint program, a set of assemblies that focus on character education in schools throughout the tri-state area. He also took charge of the pre-game “Chalk Talk” sessions, for fans that wanted to learn more about the team’s game plan on game nights.

 

Prior to joining the Fighting Saints staff, David was the head coach, alternate governor and director of hockey operations for the Kenai River Brown Bears of the North American Hockey League for four seasons (2009–13) with a record of 87-74-17 (.540). The Brown Bears went from a middling team to a playoff contender immediately under his direction, as he led the team to the Robertson Cup playoffs in all four seasons. He continues to lead the pack as the organization’s all-time leader in wins.

 

David, along with his wife, Denee, and two kids, Oden and Denver, will make the move back to Dubuque shortly. Details of the press conference, which will be held at the Mystique Community Ice Center, will be released soon.

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