David Berard enters his 18th season overall in college hockey and his sixth as an assistant under Head Coach Tim Army. Overall, Berard will enter his 12th-consecutive season at Providence and 14th overall. He served as the associate head coach under Paul Pooley for three seasons. A Coventry, R.I. native, Berard graduated from PC in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in marketing.
Known as one of the top recruiters in the country, Berard has been instrumental in bringing in a number of talented players to Providence over the past 12 years. During this time, three Friar players have earned All-America accolades and 11 Friars have been named to Hockey East All-League teams. In addition, 22 players who were recruited by Berard have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft and six of those players have signed contracts with NHL teams after leaving PC. Furthermore, two of Berard's recruits also have represented the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
In addition to his recruiting responsibilities, Berard also has a variety of roles for the Friars. On the ice, he works closely with the Friar defensive corps and goaltenders. He is also responsible for the video coordination for the program, including scouting reports, game analysis and team presentations. Additionally, he serves as academic liaison and monitors NCAA compliance issues from the program.
The 40-year-old Berard returned to Providence College before the start of the 1998-99 season after serving as the top assistant for two years at Lake Superior State University of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. At Lake Superior, Berard served as the recruiting coordinator for then Head Coach Scott Borek, a former Friar assistant. Berard began his coaching career at Colby College in Waterville, Maine during the 1992-93 season. After two successful rebuilding years, Berard returned to his alma mater to serve as an assistant coach to then first-year Head Coach Paul Pooley. In his first two years at Providence, he helped guide the Friars to two consecutive trips to the Hockey East Championship Game, finishing runner-up in 1995 and winning the Hockey East Championship in 1996. For their efforts, the Friars earned an automatic berth to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. In 2000-01 Berard also helped the Friars to a second-place finish in the Hockey East regular season, the program's highest finish ever in the Hockey East regular season standings, a berth in the Hockey East Championship Game and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In his 13 seasons at Providence, the Friars have qualified for the Hockey East playoffs 11 times, advanced to the Hockey East Semifinals four times, played in three Hockey East Championship games, captured the Hockey East Championship once and advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice.
During the past 15 years, Berard has been heavily involved in player development for USA Hockey at the national, district and local levels. During that time, he has coached at various USA Hockey National Select Festivals. From 2002-2007, Berard also served as the Director of Player Development for the New England District. In addition, Berard served as an assistant coach for the USA Under-17 Select Team, which won the silver medal at the Five Nations Tournament in Halle, Germany in 2004. Most recently, Berard was selected to the USA Hockey National Goaltending Committee, a position that he has held for the past two years.
A former goaltender in his playing days at Providence College, Berard was a member of one of the most successful classes to ever wear a Friar uniform, amassing a total of 87 wins over their four-year career. Berard was a member of three teams that reached the Hockey East Championship Tournament and two teams that qualified for the NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament.
David is married to former PC field hockey player, Lynne Campbell. They currently reside in East Greenwich, R.I. with their two sons, Brett (8) and Brady (6).
