Vernon Lakers alumnus Dane Jackson will move a few steps behind the bench to continue his coaching career.

Jackson has been named the 17th head coach of the University of North Dakota (UND) Fighting Hawks' men's hockey team. He has been an associate head coach at UND for the past 11 years, and has spent 19 seasons as a coach with the Fighting Hawks.

"I am very humbled and appreciative of the opportunity to become the next leader of the North Dakota hockey program," said Jackson to the UND . "I feel fortunate of all the things that I have learned from the UND culture, and it is this special place that has shaped my playing and coaching career.

"I am looking forward to getting right to hard work with our staff to make our program and great university proud."

Jackson, from Castlegar, played the 1987-88 season with the Vernon Lakers (now Vipers), helping the Mel Lis-owned team win its first of four BCHL Fred Page Cup championships in five years. The team's leading scorer was Rossland's Dallas Drake, who went on to a lengthy career in the NHL.

He started his junior playing career in his hometown, spending two seasons with the Castlegar Rebels in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League from 1985-87. Jackson compiled 45 goals and 48 assists in 33 games in 1986-87 for the Rebels, helping the team to the league playoff final series, where they lost to the Cranbrook Colts.

Jackson was eighth in Lakers scoring in 1987-88, playing 49 games and finishing with 24 goals and 30 assists for 54 points. He helped the Lakers beat the Richmond Sockeyes 4-1 in the Fred Page Cup championship. Vernon swept the Grande Prairie North Stars 2-0 in the best-of-three Mowat Cup final, then fell 4-0 to the Calgary Canucks in the BC-Alberta Doyle Cup series. The Canucks went on to lose the Centennial Cup final to the Notre Dame Hounds of Saskatchewan.

His play in 1987-88 earned him a scholarship to the University of North Dakota, and Jackson was also selected in the third round ot the 1988 NHL draft by the Vancouver Canucks.

Jackson played four years for the Fighting Hawks (then known as the Fighting Sioux), played 45 games in the NHL between 1993 and 1998 with the Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, and New York Islanders, and spent the bulk of his playing career in the American Hockey League from 1992-2003 with the Hamilton Canucks, Syracuse Crunch, Rochester Americans, Lowell Lock Monsters, and Manchester Monarchs.

Jackson's coaching career started as an assistant with the Monarchs in 2003-04. The Monarchs posted 102- and 109-point seasons during Jackson's two seasons there.

He then became head coach of the Adirondack Frostbite in the United States Hockey League in 2005-06 before returning to his alma mater. Jackson has primarily coached UND's forwards and penalty kill, while also working directly with UND's forwards and defence on individual skill development throughout the year.
 
Jackson was a captain five times during his professional playing career and won community service awards in two separate cities (Syracuse and Hamilton). He was also honoured with the Rochester Americans' (AHL) Leadership and Dedication Award in 2000-01.

His immediate family includes his wife, Carrie, and three children: son Dillon, and twins, son Dallas, and daughter Lila.