Joakim Flygh, who went to the NCAA Tournament five times as an assistant coach at Harvard and Minnesota-Duluth, was named Yale’s head women’s ice hockey coach on July 28, 2010. Flygh’s nine-year career as an assistant coach was marked by consistent success; teams he coached for had a combined winning percentage of .701 (176-69-21) and he was a part of six seasons of 20 or more wins.

Flygh (whose name is pronounced YOU-a-keem FLEEG) is the 10th coach in Yale women’s ice hockey history. He came to Yale after three seasons as an assistant at Harvard. There, he helped the Crimson to a 71-20-8 overall record, two NCAA tournament appearances, two ECAC Hockey regular season championships, two Beanpot tournament championships and one ECAC Hockey tournament championship. He was a part of Harvard’s perfect 22-0-0 ECAC Hockey regular season in 2007-08, the same year the Crimson advanced to the NCAA’s Frozen Four.

Flygh had a pair of stints leading Harvard while head coach Katey Stone was away coaching for USA Hockey. The Crimson went 4-0-1 in those games. His primary coaching responsibilities included working with the defense and the penalty-killing unit. Harvard was ranked in the top four in the country in scoring defense each year that Flygh was there, and led the nation in that category in 2007-08 (1.00 goals per game). Harvard was also ranked in the top six in penalty killing each year that Flygh was there.

Flygh’s off-ice responsibilities with the Crimson included coordinating recruiting, monitoring the squad’s academic progress and acting as a liaison between the team and the school’s admissions office.

At his two recent assistant coaching stops, Flygh has worked with two of the top three active coaches in career victories in the NCAA in Stone and UMD's Shannon Miller. He helped coach seven All-Americans and a Patty Kazmaier Award winner.

Flygh served as an assistant coach at Minnesota-Duluth for three seasons, working with the defense and penalty killing unit. The Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament every year that he was there. They advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four championship game in 2007 and posted an overall record of 72-26-9. Among his proteges at UMD was current Yale assistant coach Jessica Koizumi.

Over Flygh’s tenure, UMD ranked fourth nationally in goals allowed per game and third in penalty killing. During his first season in 2004-05, the UMD penalty kill unit allowed just 16 goals in 206 power plays, leading the country with a 92.2-percent efficiency.

Flygh began his coaching career at his alma mater, New England College, as a graduate assistant with the men’s ice hockey team in 2001-02. He helped the Pilgrims to a 53-23-4 record and three second-place finishes in three seasons before moving on to Minnesota-Duluth. One of his players at New England was current Yale assistant coach Eddie Ardito.

As a player for New England, Flygh was the Pilgrims’ defensive player of the year. He went on to play professional hockey in Sweden for the Lysekil Vikings.

Flygh has been active in international hockey, coaching at the IIHF Women's World Championship for Sweden in 2012 and 2013. He was also on Sweden's staff for the 4 Nations Tournament in December of 2012.

A native of Tyringe, Sweden, Flygh graduated from New England College with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2000. He earned a master’s degree in organizational management from New England in 2002. He is married to Angela Francisco Flygh, a 2001 Harvard graduate and former Crimson women’s ice hockey captain.

 Joakim's Primary Assistant Coaching Responsibilities:

updated June 1, 2013